N407AT

On April 28, 2007, about 0806 Atlantic standard time, an Aerospatiale ATR 72-212 airplane, N407AT, registered to AMR Leasing Corporation, and operated by Executive Airlines, as American Eagle flight 5089, a Title 14 CFR Part 121scheduled international passenger flight from Nevis Island, St. Kitts and Nevis, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, encountered turbulence while descending to land at San Juan. The airline transport-rated pilot and first officer were not injured, two flight attendants received minor injuries, and one passenger received serious injuries. The airplane did not incur any damage. The flight originated in Nevis Island, the same day, about 0650.

The Director of Flight Safety for Executive Airlines said that a few minutes after the Captain made the announcement to prepare for the approach to land at San Juan, Puerto Rico, he alerted the flight attendants of the possibility of encountering turbulence, and asked that everyone remain seated. According to the Director of Safety, the captain then initiated the descent, and the airplane entered a broken layer of clouds, encountering light turbulence, followed by a momentary "jolt" of turbulence. As the airplane encountered the momentary "jolt", both flight attendants who were walking to their seats, and one passenger, who had been in the lavatory, were thrown and received injuries.

The flight data recorder was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board's Vehicle Recorder Laboratory for readout, and when examined was found to contain approximately 25 hours of data, was in good condition, and included data pertaining to the turbulence event.

In addition, the solid state cockpit voice recorder was sent to the NTSB's Audio Laboratory for readout. The recorder contained two hours of audio information, to include information related to the turbulence event. No anomalies were noted, and the information showed that the Captain had both provided verbal warning of potential turbulence and had activated the fasten seatbelt sign well in advance of the turbulence event.