B767 flight crew describes the conditions leading up to an encounter with severe turbulence that inj...

Attributes
ACN	1239534
Time
Date	201502
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Oceanic
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 169 Flight Crew Total 20680 Flight Crew Type 9698
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer Relief Pilot
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 230 Flight Crew Total 17000 Flight Crew Type 6000
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

I had just returned from my rest break and the first officer (first officer) and international relief officer (international relief officer) had climbed to FL360 in an attempt to find a smoother ride. At the time we had been in constant light turbulence with an occasional moderate bump. We were advised that we could find a smooth ride at FL240. After contacting center we asked for clearance to FL240. As we descended through FL290 the ride improved considerably. As we passed through FL250 we encountered a small area of precipitation followed by a single severe bump. Both weather radars were on and there was not any weather painting. The international relief officer called to the flight attendants (flight attendant) to see if they were ok. The lead told him that some of the fas in the rear of the cabin had been hurt. After realizing there were injuries we declared an emergency and proceeded directly to the airport. Dispatch was notified and coordinated for medical personnel to meet at the gate.the fasten seatbelt sign had been on for quite some time prior to beginning descent. Several announcements had been made to insure everyone remained seated with their seat belts on. The flight attendants had been advised to discontinue their service and remain seated well before we began our descent.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767 flight crew describes the conditions leading up to an encounter with severe turbulence that injures several flight attendants.

Narrative: I had just returned from my rest break and the First Officer (FO) and International Relief Officer (IRO) had climbed to FL360 in an attempt to find a smoother ride. At the time we had been in constant light turbulence with an occasional moderate bump. We were advised that we could find a smooth ride at FL240. After contacting Center we asked for clearance to FL240. As we descended through FL290 the ride improved considerably. As we passed through FL250 we encountered a small area of precipitation followed by a single severe bump. Both weather radars were on and there was not any weather painting. The IRO called to the Flight Attendants (FA) to see if they were OK. The lead told him that some of the FAs in the rear of the cabin had been hurt. After realizing there were injuries we declared an emergency and proceeded directly to the airport. Dispatch was notified and coordinated for medical personnel to meet at the gate.The fasten seatbelt sign had been on for quite some time prior to beginning descent. Several announcements had been made to insure everyone remained seated with their seat belts on. The flight attendants had been advised to discontinue their service and remain seated well before we began our descent.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.