A319 loses altitude during turbulence encounter.

Attributes
ACN	716079
Time
Date	200610
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
State Reference	FO
Altitude	msl single value : 39000
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Weather Elements	Turbulence Windshear
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zma.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	cruise : level
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : multi engine pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 210 flight time total : 17000 flight time type : 250
ASRS Report	716079
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : excursion from assigned altitude inflight encounter : turbulence
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : regained aircraft control flight crew : returned to assigned altitude
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance Weather Aircraft
Primary Problem	Ambiguous

Narrative:

Airbus 319 encountered turbulence. At FL390 autoplt was unable to keep up so it turned off. I think if I would have turned off the autoplt sooner we could have kept it to less than a few hundred ft of deviation instead of 500 ft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 LOSES ALT DURING TURB ENCOUNTER.

Narrative: AIRBUS 319 ENCOUNTERED TURB. AT FL390 AUTOPLT WAS UNABLE TO KEEP UP SO IT TURNED OFF. I THINK IF I WOULD HAVE TURNED OFF THE AUTOPLT SOONER WE COULD HAVE KEPT IT TO LESS THAN A FEW HUNDRED FT OF DEV INSTEAD OF 500 FT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.