A brief turbulence encounter during descent to Palm Beach seriously injured one flight attendant. The Airbus A320 landed safely with all 164 aboard surviving.
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Geographic context
Islip, Long Island MacArthur Airport
Estimated turbulence encounter
Palm Beach International Airport
The flight was descending from Islip toward Palm Beach. The ocean marker uses the NTSB estimated accident coordinates; airport markers show geographic context. Basemap: Natural Earth, public domain.Read supporting evidence
The A320 entered a small cloud layer at about 7,000 to 9,000 feet. Flight attendants were securing the galley after arrival checks when one aft attendant was thrown to the floor.
Read the full incident Follow what happened, from the flight to the investigation findings.
What investigators concluded
The NTSB found that turbulence caused serious injuries to a flight attendant who remained unseated because of arrival compliance checks.
706 words / about 4 minutes to read. The official report for this event is short, so this account is shorter than most and covers only what the report documents.
A scheduled flight from Islip
JetBlue flight 1245 was operating a scheduled domestic passenger service from Long Island MacArthur Airport at Islip, New York, to Palm Beach International Airport at West Palm Beach, Florida, on 19 March 2026. The aircraft was an Airbus A320-232 registered N605JB. JetBlue Airways Corp was both its registered owner and its operator, and the flight was conducted under Part 121 air carrier rules.
The A320 had been manufactured in 2005 and carried serial number 2368. It had two IAE turbofan engines of the V2500 series. The flight plan and air traffic control clearance were both under instrument flight rules. The departure time was recorded as 16:23 UTC. There were 158 passengers and six crew members aboard, a total of 164 people. The first officer was flying the aircraft during its descent toward Palm Beach.
Both pilots held airline transport certificates and airplane instrument ratings. The captain occupied the left seat and the first officer the right; both used five-point restraints. The first officer also held flight instructor qualifications covering single-engine and multiengine airplanes and instrument flying. Both pilots held Class 1 medical certificates.
At 14:58 local time, the aircraft encountered turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean while descending into Palm Beach. The first officer described entering a small cloud layer at about 7,000 to 9,000 feet, followed by brief, sharp turbulence lasting approximately three seconds. In the cabin, the flight attendants had just finished their arrival compliance checks and were securing the galley when the turbulence occurred.
Two flight attendants were working at the rear of the cabin. One reported being thrown to the floor and then needing help from the other aft attendant to reach the jump seat. Both aft attendants described the turbulence as severe. The two attendants at the front of the aircraft also sustained injuries, which were classified as minor. One of the forward attendants contacted the flight deck and told the captain that emergency medical services would be needed at the gate because members of the cabin crew were injured.
The captain and first officer said the onboard weather radar showed no significant returns when the aircraft encountered the turbulence. Afterward, the first officer reported the encounter to air traffic control. The controller advised that the air traffic control radar also showed no significant weather activity in that sector. The NTSB found that no significant meteorological information messages, convective SIGMETs or Center Weather Advisories covered the general arrival route into Palm Beach at the time.
There were also no relevant pilot reports available during flight 1245's descent. A later pilot report, made at about 15:30 local time, described severe turbulence at 2,000 feet during descent into Palm Beach. That report concerned an encounter at a lower altitude and was made after the JetBlue accident. The NTSB's findings identified convective turbulence affecting personnel and recorded meteorological knowledge issues for the cabin crew, flight crew and air traffic control personnel.
The airport weather observation at 14:53 local time recorded daylight, visibility of ten miles and wind from 350 degrees at 15 knots, gusting to 23 knots. Scattered cloud was present at 3,000 feet above ground, with a broken ceiling at 5,000 feet. The temperature was 23 degrees Celsius and the dew point 16 degrees, with an altimeter setting of 30.05 inches of mercury. No precipitation or obscuration was recorded. The report classified conditions at the accident site as visual meteorological conditions and recorded the actual turbulence as convective and severe.
Flight 1245 continued to Palm Beach and landed without further incident. The aft flight attendant who had fallen was taken to a local hospital, where an evaluation found fractures to the pelvis and vertebrae. The final injury totals were one seriously injured crew member, two crew members with minor injuries and three uninjured crew members. All 158 passengers were uninjured. Everyone aboard survived.
The aircraft sustained no damage, and there was no fire or explosion. The NTSB recorded an estimated accident position of 27.273011 degrees north and 79.812 degrees west in the Atlantic Ocean. Its probable cause finding linked the turbulence encounter to the serious injury sustained by the attendant, who was still unseated because of the arrival compliance checks. The NTSB completed the investigation and published final report DCA26LA165 on 16 July 2026.
An aft flight attendant was thrown to the floor during the turbulence and needed help reaching the jump seat. Hospital assessment found fractures to the pelvis and vertebrae.
The NTSB linked the serious injury to turbulence encountered while the attendant remained unseated because of arrival compliance checks. The attendants had just completed the checks and were securing the galley.
During descent into Palm Beach, the aircraft entered a small cloud layer at about 7,000 to 9,000 feet. The first officer described approximately three seconds of sharp turbulence.
These comparisons connect specific research topics. Shared circumstances do not establish identical causes. Evidence from both investigations is provided below.
Both occurrences injured cabin crew during abrupt motion in flight. The NTSB identified convective turbulence on JetBlue 1245 during descent while an attendant was completing arrival checks. On Qantas 72, the ATSB traced pitch-down commands to erroneous angle-of-attack data and a flight-control software design limitation; unrestrained occupants were thrown toward the ceiling.
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Kevin Murphy writes the incident accounts on AirlineIncidents.com, out of a long interest in aviation safety and the lessons each investigation leaves behind.
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