Boeing 737-824 accident near Atlantic Ocean, AO, July 8, 1999
On July 8, 1999 at about 6:10 pm local time, a Boeing 737-824, registered N12221, suffered minor damage in an accident near Atlantic Ocean, AO. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). 1 person was seriously injured and 71 people had minor injuries; 89 others were unhurt. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the aircrew's inadvertent encounter with unforecast clear air turbulence.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 8, 1999 · about 6:10 pm local time
- Place
- Atlantic Ocean, AO
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured and 71 people had minor injuries; 89 others were unhurt.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737-824 · all 737-824s on the register
- Registration
- N12221 · registry record · serial 28770
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane was in cruise flight at 29,000 feet in smooth air with the seat belt sign turned off. The crew reported two jolts, and the airplane descended 600 feet. Due to possible injuries, the crew diverted to Bermuda (BDA) and landed. Readout of the flight data recorder indicated cruise flight at 29,000 feet with no change in heading, airspeed, or altitude for several minutes approaching the accident sequence. The altitude graph showed a slight climb before the airplane descended to 28,400 feet. The graph line indicated a slow recovery to 29,000 feet with no oscillations. The elapsed time between the first altitude excursion to recovered cruise flight was approximately 75 seconds. Of the 155 passengers on board, one passenger received serious injuries and 67 received minor injuries. The flight was scheduled for Flight Level 330 to Flight Level 370. Therefore, no information concerning forecast turbulence at Flight Level 290 was available to the flight crew. The High Level Significant Weather Prognosis chart for that period revealed that no significant weather was shown in the area where the turbulence was encountered.
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
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 14,800 hours in all; 3,300 in this make and model; 215 in the last 90 days; 76 in the last 30 days; 12,000 as pilot in command; 500 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,639 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, July 3, 1999; 51 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 173,000 lb
- Seats: 155
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Cfm CFM 56-7B26 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Continental Airlines, INC
The flight
- Departed from: EWR Newark NJ at 4:21 pm
- Destination: SJU San Juan PR
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 220° at 14 knots
- Visibility: 3 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 5,000 ft; scat at 2,000 ft
- Temperature: 82°F (28°C), dew point 77°F (25°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:55 pm from TXK, 180 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 4 | 2 | ||
| Passengers | 1 | 67 | 87 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N12221 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 documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text 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 IAD99FA052.