Aerospatiale ATR-72-212 accident near Athens, Georgia, March 10, 2000
On March 10, 2000 at about 6:10 pm local time, a Aerospatiale ATR-72-212, registered N636AS, was involved in an accident near Athens, Georgia. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). 1 person was seriously injured; 26 others were unhurt. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The flight attendant's failure to seat and belt herself during an inflight encounter with turbulence in clouds resulting in her losing foothold and falling against a passenger seat, sustaining a fractured ankle.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 10, 2000 · about 6:10 pm local time
- Place
- Athens, Georgia · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured; 26 others were unhurt.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Aerospatiale ATR-72-212 · all ATR-72-212s on the register
- Registration
- N636AS · registry record · serial 375
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
According to the pilot, the flight was at cruise at 15,000 feet agl, with the seat belt sign illuminated, and no weather echo returns indicated on the weather radar, when he passed through the edge of a cloud. The aircraft received a hard jolt followed by moderate turbulence that caused an unseated cabin crewmember to lose her footing and fall against a seat armrest. She sustained a fracture of the great right toe and the left ankle.
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
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: glider; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 2,700 hours in all; 950 in this make and model; 80 in the last 90 days; 1,850 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 15,862 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, March 5, 2000; 37 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 48,501 lb
- Seats: 66
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W 127 PW (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ATL Atlanta GA at 5:50 pm
- Destination: GSP Greenville SC
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 5 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 2,900 ft; clear
- Temperature: 75°F (24°C), dew point 66°F (19°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:53 pm from AHN, 12 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | 3 | ||
| Passengers | 23 |
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.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.