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A high performance aerobatic aircraft pilot descended from FL200 to 14;000 ft below a line of thunderstorms; but still encountered severe; violent turbulence and precipitation. After landing significant wing leading edge erosion was discovered.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1377330 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201607 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | Mixed |
| Light | Dusk |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Aerobatic |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Private Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 3000 Flight Crew Type 600 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
The flight was direct. Sigmets forecast significant thunderstorm activity on the route of flight. ATC broadcast continually severe thunderstorm warnings for the area. At FL200 I encountered a line of thunderstorms stretching north to south for several hundred miles. The cumulonimbus was too high to fly over; too broad to go around; and I elected to descend to FL140; after clearance from ATC; with the intention of flying under the thunderstorm; avoid areas of intensive precipitation activity; and to establish contact with the ground. Turbulence during the descent was violent; with 3-4 g buffeting indicating on the primary flight display. Downdrafts and updrafts were severe for several minutes. It was impossible to maintain any specific altitude and it required a great deal of intensity to control the aircraft. Precipitation made the cockpit very noisy. ATC informed me of an altitude deviation; which did not surprise me as the turbulence made it difficult to read the pfd; much less hold an altitude. I attempted to re-establish the correct altitude but the downdrafts and updrafts encountered made this a largely futile exercise. This circumstance continued for the next few minutes and as soon as I re-established contact with the ground; I cancelled the IFR clearance and proceeded VFR so I would not excite ATC any further. After landing; the wing leading edges evidenced significant erosion due to the heavy precipitation encountered.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A high performance aerobatic aircraft pilot descended from FL200 to 14;000 ft below a line of thunderstorms; but still encountered severe; violent turbulence and precipitation. After landing significant wing leading edge erosion was discovered.
Narrative: The flight was direct. Sigmets forecast significant thunderstorm activity on the route of flight. ATC broadcast continually severe thunderstorm warnings for the area. At FL200 I encountered a line of thunderstorms stretching north to south for several hundred miles. The cumulonimbus was too high to fly over; too broad to go around; and I elected to descend to FL140; after clearance from ATC; with the intention of flying under the thunderstorm; avoid areas of intensive precipitation activity; and to establish contact with the ground. Turbulence during the descent was violent; with 3-4 g buffeting indicating on the primary flight display. Downdrafts and updrafts were severe for several minutes. It was impossible to maintain any specific altitude and it required a great deal of intensity to control the aircraft. Precipitation made the cockpit very noisy. ATC informed me of an altitude deviation; which did not surprise me as the turbulence made it difficult to read the PFD; much less hold an altitude. I attempted to re-establish the correct altitude but the downdrafts and updrafts encountered made this a largely futile exercise. This circumstance continued for the next few minutes and as soon as I re-established contact with the ground; I cancelled the IFR clearance and proceeded VFR so I would not excite ATC any further. After landing; the wing leading edges evidenced significant erosion due to the heavy precipitation encountered.
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.