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Small aircraft pilot reports approaching his destination and noting it is between weather cells on his xm and adsb nexrad weather displays. While on vectors for the ILS; 1;000 feet is lost due to downdrafts. After regaining the lost altitude the reporter diverts to his alternate to wait out the weather.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1275965 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201506 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | MQS.Airport |
| State Reference | PA |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Small Aircraft |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Route In Use | Vectors |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 15 Flight Crew Total 800 Flight Crew Type 650 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
After passing over lns which was in the clear; I continued on my flight plan to land at mqs; about 20 miles further east and in between areas of precipitation on the xm and ads-B weather. As I approached the airport and after requesting vectors for the ILS 29 into mqs; it became clear this was not safe. I lost 1000 feet of altitude within a few seconds and had trouble controlling the airplane. Philly approach told me I was descending below their radar coverage to which I replied that I was trying to climb back to 2500 and would like to head back to lns (my listed alternate) to wait out the weather at mqs.I regained altitude; philly handed me off to lancaster tower and I landed there uneventfully. I am sure I deviated from the assigned altitude due to downdrafts and windshear. Even though chester county airport looked clear on both radar sources; in fact the weather was worse than depicted. Lesson learned: I should have just requested a deviation to the alternate before getting close to potential weather issues.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Small aircraft pilot reports approaching his destination and noting it is between weather cells on his XM and ADSB NexRad weather displays. While on vectors for the ILS; 1;000 feet is lost due to downdrafts. After regaining the lost altitude the reporter diverts to his alternate to wait out the weather.
Narrative: After passing over LNS which was in the clear; I continued on my flight plan to land at MQS; about 20 miles further east and in between areas of precipitation on the XM and ADS-B weather. As I approached the airport and after requesting vectors for the ILS 29 into MQS; it became clear this was not safe. I lost 1000 feet of altitude within a few seconds and had trouble controlling the airplane. Philly approach told me I was descending below their radar coverage to which I replied that I was trying to climb back to 2500 and would like to head back to LNS (my listed alternate) to wait out the weather at MQS.I regained altitude; Philly handed me off to Lancaster tower and I landed there uneventfully. I am sure I deviated from the assigned altitude due to downdrafts and windshear. Even though Chester County Airport looked clear on both radar sources; in fact the weather was worse than depicted. Lesson learned: I should have just requested a deviation to the alternate before getting close to potential weather issues.
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.