Incident · 2015-08-07
What the record says
- Event date
- 2015-08-07
- Event type
- Incident
- Highest injury level
- No injuries
- Aircraft
- AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320 211 (N332NW)
- Operating rule
- Part 121
- Operator
- DELTA AIR LINES, INC. Operator named in NTSB report
- Operated by (per NTSB report)
- Delta Air Lines
Probable cause
The flight crew's continued flight into a closing gap between areas of thunderstorm activity and their failure to maintain the required lateral separation from the thunderstorms, which resulted in the airplane's encounter with hail and subsequent airplane damage. Contributing to the incident were the company flight dispatcher's failure to provide complete and timely weather information to the flight crew and the Denver air route traffic controller's failure to provide significant pilot weather report information and alert the pilots of existing and worsening hazardous weather along their flight route, as required by Federal Aviation directives, both of which led to the airplane's encounter with hail.
Source: NTSB case OPS15IA020Flight crew
Certification and experience as recorded in the NTSB accident database for this event. The NTSB records these facts about the crew's flying history; GroundCheck shows them as filed, without names or identities.
| Role | Certificate | Instrument rating | Age | Medical | Flight hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot pilot flying | Flight engineer | None | 57 | Class 1 (2016-09-11) | 16,628 total · 8,028 in this make/model · 7,602 as PIC · 167 last 90 days |
| Co-pilot pilot flying | Airline transport pilot / Flight instructor / Flight engineer | — | 44 | Class 1 (2011-10-22) | 4,682 total · 922 in this make/model · 133 last 90 days |
Facts as the NTSB records them — GroundCheck adds no judgement. Preliminary records may be revised as the investigation proceeds.