Southwest Flight 2392

The flight and its crew

Southwest Airlines flight 2392 was flying from Chicago Midway to Boston Logan on 15 April 2026. The Boeing 737-8, registered N8787K, was carrying 120 passengers and six crew members on a scheduled Part 121 service. The NTSB located the accident at Providence, Rhode Island, and recorded the time as 21:30 local. The aircraft was descending toward Boston when the turbulence encounter occurred.

The first officer was flying and the captain was monitoring. The captain had 22,889 hours of total flight experience, including 12,300 hours in the aircraft make and model. The first officer had 6,967 hours in total, including 2,401 hours in the make and model. Four flight attendants were working in the cabin.

The aircraft had been manufactured in 2022. Its airframe had accumulated 11,182 hours by the time of the accident. It was fitted with two CFM International LEAP-1B28 series turbofan engines and held a transport-category airworthiness certificate.

Weather planning and cabin service

Before departure, the pilots examined their dispatch release and the weather forecasts. Those forecasts indicated turbulence during departure and two weather systems along the route. The pilots instructed the flight attendants to stay seated until the turbulence had subsided. About 20 minutes into the flight, the pilots and cabin crew discussed when cabin service could take place. They agreed that the attendants would be seated if the aircraft encountered turbulence.

As the pilots briefed the Boston approach, they saw that weather conditions had deteriorated. They prepared for a Category III instrument landing. That plan required the captain to take the controls from the first officer. Although their landing preparations had changed with the weather, the pilots did not expect turbulence during the descent into Boston.

The encounter at 14,000 feet

While the aircraft was descending through 14,000 feet, it encountered unexpected moderate turbulence. The pilots recalled seeing nothing on the aircraft weather radar at that time. They tried to deviate from their course to avoid further turbulence. Light to moderate turbulence continued after their attempt to change course.

The flight attendants were preparing the cabin for landing when the encounter happened. Two were in the aft galley. The aircraft movement threw both into the air and then down onto the floor. A flight attendant from the forward cabin and a passenger came to their assistance. Together they helped both injured attendants into passenger seats in the last row. The forward attendant then occupied an aft jumpseat for landing.

Landing and medical treatment

The pilots requested emergency medical personnel to meet the aircraft at the gate. Flight 2392 continued to Boston and landed uneventfully. Both injured attendants from the aft galley were taken to hospital. One received treatment and was released. The other was diagnosed with a fracture of the left foot, the injury the NTSB classified as serious. The two remaining flight attendants reported minor injuries.

All 120 passengers were uninjured. The crew injury figures were one serious injury, three minor injuries and two people uninjured. With the passengers included, 122 of the 126 occupants escaped injury. Everyone survived. The aircraft sustained no damage, and the NTSB recorded no aircraft fire or explosion.

The weather evidence

A National Weather Service convective SIGMET was valid for an area about 75 miles west of the encounter location. SkyPath, the crowdsourced tool used by pilots to track turbulence, had shown no turbulence near the flight. Flight 2392 subsequently recorded a moderate turbulence event in SkyPath. The pilots' recollection of the aircraft weather radar also described an empty display at the time of the encounter.

The NTSB examined weather observations from Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport at Warwick. Its analysis placed that airport about four miles east of the turbulence encounter. The hourly airport weather report indicated that the cloud ceiling had fallen from 11,000 feet above ground level to about 9,500 feet. The factual information classified conditions at the accident site as instrument meteorological conditions and recorded the lighting condition as night.

The completed investigation

The NTSB published its final report on 20 August 2026. It determined that the probable cause was the aircraft's encounter with turbulence during descent, resulting in a serious injury to a flight attendant. Its findings identified awareness of the condition and the effect on personnel as environmental issues. The injury sequence began while the attendants were preparing for landing and ended with two attendants needing help to reach passenger seats before arrival.