Boeing 777-200 accident near New Market, Virginia, November 19, 2009
On November 19, 2009, a Boeing 777-200, registered N209UA, was involved in an accident during enroute (cruise) near New Market, Virginia. It was flown under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). 1 person was seriously injured and 1 person had minor injuries; 198 others were unhurt. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The flight crew’s inadvertent encounter with a small area of cumulous clouds at night that resulted in moderate to severe convectively induced turbulence.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 19, 2009
- Place
- New Market, Virginia · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured and 1 person had minor injuries; 198 others were unhurt.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 777-200 · all 777-200s on the register
- Registration
- N209UA · registry record · serial 30215
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
Prior to and after the turbulence encounter the captain reported smooth air while level at FL310. There were no reported sigmets, airmets, or pilot reports issued, nor were there “watch boxes” that warned of adverse weather. The onboard weather radar was functioning when suddenly the airplane went through a cloud at Mach 0.84 and encountered moderate turbulence for about 10 to 15 seconds. He said that there was an overspeed warning alarm and he immediately took over manual control of the airplane maintaining control, and activated the seat belt warning sign which had previously been off, since the flight had been smooth. The first officer statement was consistent with the captain’s and in addition he reported seeing “considerable St. Elmo’s Fire” throughout the duration of the turbulence. The aircraft’s flight data recorder indicated that while the aircraft was level at FL310, the vertical acceleration changed from 1.25 g’s to -0.5 g’s in less than one second and then abruptly reached 2.0 g’s within a few seconds before reducing to minor oscillations that were between 1.25 g’s and 0.75 g’s which lasted for about 15 seconds. According to the FDR data, the turbulence lasted about 20 seconds. The NTSB conducted a meteorological study to assess weather conditions in the area where the flight encountered turbulence, and the National Weather Service’s Radar Summary for 1918 EST depicted an extensive area of rain showers over the region with a few radar echo tops between 31,000 feet and 48,000 feet. In addition, the regional radar composite imagery showed that between 1910 and 1940 EST there was a small area of reflectivity between 5 and 25 decibels in the area of the turbulence encounter.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Turbulence encounter during enroute (cruise) defining event
The NTSB's findings
- cause Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence › Convective turbulence › Effect on personnel
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,252 in this make and model
- Last flight review: August 8, 2009
- Medical certificate: Class 1
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Co-pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,763 in this make and model
- Last flight review: October 9, 2009
- Medical certificate: Class 1
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 41,788 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, November 9, 2008
- Maximum gross weight: 640,000 lb
- Seats: 200
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Pratt Whitney PW 4090 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Pratt Whitney PW 4090 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: United Airlines Inc.,
The flight
- Departed from: ORD Chicago IL
- Destination: IAD Sterling VA
- Flight plan: IFR
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabi | 1 | 7 | ||
| Flig | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 1 | 189 |
Other NTSB records under N209UA the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number DCA10FA012.