Boeing 767-332 accident near Atlanta, Georgia, September 27, 1999
On September 27, 1999 at about 7:30 pm local time, a Boeing 767-332, registered N196DN, was involved in an accident near Atlanta, Georgia. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). 1 person was seriously injured; 201 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
FAA approach/departure controller's improper service and failure to coordinate and resolve a conflict between aircraft prior to effecting a frequency change, and the improper application of visual separation rules to a flight in the clouds, resulting the crew being required to make an abrupt maneuver to avoid the traffic, causing serious injury to a flight attendant.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 27, 1999 · about 7:30 pm local time
- Place
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured; 201 others were unhurt.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 767-332 · all 767-332s on the register
- Registration
- N196DN · registry record · serial 28453
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The crew of DAL147 said that they were inbound to land at Atlanta and was at 12,000 feet, on a heading 227 degrees, in sequence for runway 08 when the flight was switched to the south runway. They were told to turn to 180 degrees when able, and to look for traffic at 11,000 feet. DAL147 was in the clouds executing the turn to 180 degrees when they responded to the TARH controller that they had the traffic on TCAS, climbing out of 11,000 feet, approaching their altitude. The crew further stated that the TCAS indicated that the traffic was climbing to 14,000 feet. The pilot flying turned off the autopilot to make the turn quicker to avoid the traffic, and when the autopilot came off, a flight attendant in the back of the airplane was seriously injured. FAA transcript of communications revealed that the TARH controller told DAL147 that the traffic would be leveling at eleven and instructed the crew to maintain visual separation from the traffic. The transcripts also show that at 1902:43 the traffic, a Continental Airlines flight (COA66), was climbing in the clouds, and had been cleared to 14,000 feet instead of 11,000 feet.
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; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 19,000 hours in all; 4,561 in this make and model; 202 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 9,737 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, September 3, 1999; 9,755 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 407,000 lb
- Seats: 206
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W PW4060 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: VIE Vienna/Austria OF
- Destination: ATL Atlanta GA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 140° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 6,500 ft; scat at 2,000 ft
- Temperature: 77°F (25°C), dew point 70°F (21°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:00 pm from ATL, 32 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | 11 | ||
| Passengers | 190 |
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 N196DN 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 MIA99LA272.