Delta Air Lines flight 56 from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam diverted to Minneapolis on 30 July after encountering what the airline calls “significant turbulence.” 25 people on board were taken to local hospitals after the aircraft landed safely in Minneapolis.
Delta flight 56 departed Salt Lake City at 22:45 UTC (16:45 local time) and began its climb to 35,000 feet. At 23:19 UTC, DL56 began climbing to 37,000 feet. Shortly after reaching 37,000 at 23:23, the aircraft encountered turbulence.
The flight reached a maximum altitude of 38,075 feet at 23:23:32. The minimum altitude before the flight climbed back to 37,000 feet was 35,775 feet at 23:25:08.
Flight 56 landed safely in Minneapolis at 00:51 UTC.
Storms in the area
High-resolution North American radar overlaid on the paths of aircraft in the area at the time show active storm avoidance by multiple aircraft.
Data available for download
Included below are the standard full-flight CSV and KML files, as well as raw altitude data for a selected period including the turbulence event.
Aircraft information
Delta flight 56 was operated by an Airbus A330-900neo registered N422DZ. The two year old aircraft was delivered to Delta new in early 2023.
Investigative updates
9 September 2025 — The NTSB released its preliminary report, providing additional factual information about the flight and the nature of the injuries to those onboard.
Delta flight 56 encountered turbulence as they attempted to divert around convective activity. After coordinating with air traffic control to adjust their course, the crew turned left to heading 350°. After turning the aircraft experienced an overspeed event and an updraft, which carried the aircraft up to 38,000 feet. During the event, which lasted approximately 2.5 minutes, the aircraft experienced a maximum positive vertical acceleration of 1.75g and a maximum negative acceleration of -0.5g.
Onboard, 24 people were evaluated for potential injuries and 18 were transported to local hospitals. Among the injured, two cabin crew were seriously injured and five sustained minor injuries.
77 Responses
Who know Delta flew from Salt Lake to Amsterdam, turns out this is good publicity!
Lol
Hehe
He
nice route to Europe that’s not LHR for those of us in the intermountain west. I’ll be on it in September.
Have you been to the SLC airport? Huge hub for Delta, they fly everywhere out of there.
I flew that route 6 years ago
Good publicity
I thought the exact same thing.
I have flown Delta from Amsterdam to Salt Lake many times during the last years.
They say there is no bad publicity.
lol
Does the data show the furthest drop tha airplane experienced? It looks more gradule.
It does not if you actually replay the flight. (https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/dl56#3b806d51)
If you look at the raw data, the flight recorder is recording all alts. it can, and then looking at the timing, slightly after reaching 28850 it drops to around 36600 in a matter of seconds (look at the timing on the far left).
This is how you do it baby….straight into the thunderstorm.
Fn metal AF.
Assumming Delta has weather radar that works .. i always understood it was for ‘avoidance’ not ‘penetration’
Just wanted to stop by to tip my hat at the name you chose to make this comment.
Well played, sir.
Even “up & over” has its downsides, ask Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Rankin.
The first disturbances took place over the flats of Wyoming. Then it looks like the plane stabilised and then was disturbed again over the same area.
Fully Agreed Sir
The Delta crew made a mistake by not navigating around the storms and instead attempted to pass over the top of the storm. The crew should be terminated.
I had understood that the weather incident happened unexpectedly and there was no time for it to have been predicted
You mean as in “end their lives”?
1. How are 25 people not buckled in? It is stated over and over “if you are seated, buckle.” People ignore it. Almost every turbulence related injury is related to people who are seated not wearing a seat belt.
2. There is so much weather it is not so simple to just zig and zag around the storms. Sometimes you are in the air and all you can do is pick the best path you can. The planes can handle it- see #1.
It’s a matter of common sense to be seated and buckled. Some people just don’t understand that they are taking the chance of having the probability that they may have some turbulence on any flight they are on when that happens there’s the possibility the refreshment cart could roll down the aisle and cause an accident especially if the plane looses altitude. My husband was on a flight from Las Vegas several years ago that hit a bad spot of turbulence over New Mexico to Dallas on a Southwest Airlines flight to Love Field, unfortunatelyhe was a very nervous flyer who was terrified of heights and he usually had to be sedated to fly but he was by himself on the flight back home. I had surprised him for valentines day with the trip because the company we both were employed with was having a conference that weekend I bought the tickets for and made sure to set aside quite a bit of cash for him to take to gamble with; I wasn’t supposed to go to that function so I couldn’t give him the sedatives he usually took to fly like he had taken on the flight to Vegas because he had someone who was going to the conference with him to get him to the hotel. My point to him coming home by himself with the bad turbulence and the plane dropping the person sitting next to him was a pilot who was going back to Dallas to connect and fly a plane somewhere else; that pilot was holding onto the arms of his seat white knuckling,that terrified my husband I didn’t let him fly again without me again he never felt safe flying without a seatbelt being on he would even make sure our family was belted in when we were all going on any trip together, he wouldn’t tolerate us being unbeltelted. I’ve flown without him and always keep mine on out of respect for him; he’s gone now so he’s not gonna be flying anymore.
It’s really a shame that those people on that flight were hurt because they probably weren’t wearing their seatbelts; I feel kinda sorry for them because they most likely didn’t look out their windows and see the storm
You are a bit quick in your decisions !
Knee jerk reaction! Unless you know all the details, probably best not to speculate.
I agree. Since when do we fly thru dangerous storms about which we have had prior warning
Retrained, not terminated. You can be sure none of them will make THAT mistake again!
None the less… I’m sure the seatbelt sign was on. I’m guessing most if not all were not seated with seatbelts on.
I noticed the exact same thing. Other planes avoided the storms. Maybe not the crew to blame, but the company (to save fuel)?
That’s a bit harsh. Sacked maybe…….
We’re you in the cockpit, the pilot’s seat?
AGREE
You do realize that the crew do not determine the flight path, right?
This appears to be an uneducated and entirely unjustified comment.
Exactly on what are you basing your assertions or is this yet another example of an ‘armchair expert / keyboard warrior’?
The people who demand termination would scream the loudest if they were ever terminated. Just saying.
Same thing Singapore Airlines did. They are been sued in Australia. You do not try to fly over storms. My instructor always said, the weather radar is for weather “AVOIDANCE NOT WEATHER PENETRATION”. So this silly narrative of “clear air turbulence” in the media should stop.
Fully agreed! I had sam experince with a spanish fight, captain change and turn around the storm withot any consequences
Desconozco si tienes conocimientos de aeronavegación, de cualquier forma me pareces demasiado terminante y apresurado en tu juicio. No creo que un piloto experimentado opinaría como tú.
You’re correct John, the crew placed their passengers in a very dangerous situation without their consent. Flight crews should always choose the safest route. They have many lives in their hands and, as they were being so cavalier with the lives of their passengers, it was a derogation of their duties.
Severely reprimand the Delta pilots and Delta Airlines. We all know that turbulence can happen at any time and not completely unavoidable. There are indicators based on aircraft history and modern technology that can help reduce the risk. Flying above a thunderstorm does not guaranteed a smooth flight. Why on earth would a pilot not deviate and go around the storm? We don’t need cowboys in the flight deck or because the airline wants to save money. The pilots may be used to this, but the passengers are not.
John, while I hate to be harsh, I too think that both the Delta dispatchers and the flight crew must be held accountable for VERY POOR JUDGEMENT. When I hear praise that they safely got the plane on the ground, that is completely missing the point. This type of horrific mistake is exactly what makes people afraid to fly. I have 5 million miles on AA and yet I review Turbulence Forecast and many more granular maps before I decide whether I’m going exactly because I don’t trust people like this, and that’s a shame. Plan a safe smooth flight or CANCEL. Minimally advise passengers BEFORE THE GET ABOARD if conditions appear rough!
Pilots must follow air traffic control instructions. If ATC doesn’t let them change altitude or deviate, they cannot. I have been on flights where turbulence has been extreme and pilots have announced ATC won’t let them descend .
Aviation wouldn’t be half as safe as it is today if every crew who got it wrong was “terminated”. What an idiotic comment.
Agree
It’s ALWAYS Delta! They lost a nose cone coming the other way a few years ago doing the same. They had another incident leaving Italy not long ago. Are they not members of the turbulence software that so many airlines subscribe to?
Am I mis-reading the radar? DId the plane actually fly into thunder storms?
I don’t know why they flew into or closely over this big cell; I would not have done it. And I would suspect that most of the injured were not wearing their seat belts – maybe the seatbelt sign was not even on, because the pilots misjudged the severity of the turbulence to be expected?
The email notifying of this incident states:
“The flight diverted to Minneapolis where 25 passengers and crew were taken to the hospital. All crew and those passengers willing to share information with the airline have been treated and released.”
Well what happened to those passengers who were NOT willing to share information with the airline. Were they not treated and released?
What about turning on the safety belt sign??? (Crew included).
No injuries, only roller coaster experience.
In the intoductory paragraph:
“All crew and those passengers willing to share information with the airline have been treated and released.”
So those passengers who woukd not share information with the airline are being held captive?
I agree. Severe reprimand to the pilots AND to Delta Airlines. This is unacceptable. We all know turbulence can occur at any time but there are also plenty of indicators based on history that there are areas and situations that should be avoided.
Flying above an area of disturbance doesn’t guarantee a smooth ride. Why on earth not deviate around the storm. The pilots may be use to this, but passengers are not.
What are everyone else’s thoughts?
Unless you have access to cockpit recordings you have no evidence of their reasonings.
What surprises me about this incident is the length of time before landing (90 minutes) and their choice of Minneapolis. Admittedly, the closest airport (Casper, Wyoming) may not have had sufficient facilities to support the situation, but returning to Salt Lake City (175 miles) or diverting to Denver (235 miles) both seem like better options than continuing to Delta’s next closest hub, Minneapolis (850 miles).
Presumably that will have had to do with fuel load and weight for landing?
How hard is it to go around a storm
Yes, I agree, the crew should be terminated
I can certainly understand some injuries – particularly cabin crew, or someone in the toilet, but just wear your bloody seat belts people – how many more times!
no way to make it over the storm should have went around, fire everyone on board
“Fire everyone on board” isn’t that a bit harsh?, poor passengers!
We are missing the details about the weather that caused the incident. Was it a thundercloud or was it wave in the mountains?
Tell us if the crews get the weather maps you showed or warnings from other planes. Were seat belt signs on or off.
I’m from salt lake …. And this is a lil scary 😱……
Now imagine the effects of this turbulence on narrow body transatlantic A321XLR. I doubt that passengers care about cost-efficiency and consequently lower fares they paid on A321XLR when their safety is concerned.
The crew I can understand injuries. But, the rest of you keep your seat-belts fastened for the whole flight
Poor Delta is really having some weird happenings in the last6 weeks or so.
Seatbelts, anyone?
One reason not to fly with Delta, by the look of that weather radar.
there is only one solution:
KEEP YOUR SEATBELT ON AT ALL TIMES
What is btw the most extreme turbulence an aircraft ever had in history?
Would to autopilot try to keep the plane at the right altitude. So when the updraft pushed the aircraft up did it steer the aircraft in the down direction relative to the updraft. Then when the plane exited the updraft area it was still compensating down and now loosing altitude and had to adjust back to the programmed altitude.
I am not a pilot. Just thinking about control system regulation. Maybe there was overcompensation that made it worse.
Looks like the pilots were trying zero gravity
Crew and ATC vacation time, for not going around the storm!!!!
NOTAM…Don’t fly over or under and definitively not through highly convective activity visible on radar…NOTPG…notice to passengers…if you see rain or lightning out of your window you may want to check your seat belt to make sure it’s fastened, which should be all the time anyway.