A BE36 autopilot and COM1 malfunctioned in flight where the pilot momentarily lost control in weathe...

Attributes
ACN	1045952
Time
Date	201210
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Bonanza 36
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Direct Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Autopilot
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Private Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 31 Flight Crew Total 1018 Flight Crew Type 260
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

I was on an IFR flight at 5;000 feet. ATC amended my route with several direct legs between NAVAID followed by radar vectors to my destination; and I was following the new route. The flight was routine other than weather making it very windy and turbulent. ATC cleared me to 4;000 feet and said to expect a visual for runway 8. I went to 4;000 feet and continued on my amended route. Approximately 5 minutes later I was in heavy IMC when my autopilot malfunctioned. I tried to reset the breaker and cycle the autopilot to no avail. Due to the high winds; when the autopilot disconnected the plane turned off course and started to dive. Once I regained control I asked ATC for a lower altitude as I was approaching my destination. ATC did not respond and after multiple attempts I switched to comm 2 and reached ATC. ATC said they had been trying to reach me for some time. They vectored me for the ILS 8 approach which I followed and landed safely. Upon landing I was asked to call center. They notified me that I had lost communication with center for 11 minutes. I explained my situation and they filed a report. On saturday; I flew my plane directly to an avionics shop where I am going to have the autopilot and radios checked out.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE36 autopilot and COM1 malfunctioned in flight where the pilot momentarily lost control in weather; near his destination; but was able to contact ATC on COMM2 and fly an ILS.

Narrative: I was on an IFR flight at 5;000 feet. ATC amended my route with several direct legs between NAVAID followed by radar vectors to my destination; and I was following the new route. The flight was routine other than weather making it very windy and turbulent. ATC cleared me to 4;000 feet and said to expect a visual for Runway 8. I went to 4;000 feet and continued on my amended route. Approximately 5 minutes later I was in heavy IMC when my autopilot malfunctioned. I tried to reset the breaker and cycle the autopilot to no avail. Due to the high winds; when the autopilot disconnected the plane turned off course and started to dive. Once I regained control I asked ATC for a lower altitude as I was approaching my destination. ATC did not respond and after multiple attempts I switched to Comm 2 and reached ATC. ATC said they had been trying to reach me for some time. They vectored me for the ILS 8 approach which I followed and landed safely. Upon landing I was asked to call Center. They notified me that I had lost communication with Center for 11 minutes. I explained my situation and they filed a report. On Saturday; I flew my plane directly to an Avionics shop where I am going to have the autopilot and radios checked out.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.