Narrative:

During the cruise flight at 12;000 ft on IFR flight plan in IMC; I experienced turbulence in a build up that caused loss of aircraft control. As I recall the timing of events; I was under cleveland center control at the time and was on an approximate 290 degree heading and deviating around obvious thunderstorm cells easily viewed on nexrad some 20 nautical miles northwest of toledo; ohio. In less than a second I found the aircraft in a 90-degree bank and descending over 1000 ft per minute. This event was accompanied by unexpected heavy rain. After leveling the wings I found myself on an approximate 90-degree heading; and at 11;200 ft altitude. Once stabilized on this heading and regaining the assigned 12;000 ft altitude I asked for the re-route to gain time to assess weather and the best course of action. I was handed off to detroit approach control and they assigned 10;000 ft altitude and granted request to direct ann arbor and then direct destination. At the time of the event I was navigating in part on nexrad images on my moving map to avoid as much precipitation as possible; at the time of the event I was clear of all precipitation on the moving map over ten miles in any direction. There were isolated thunderstorms across a wide area of michigan and ohio. At this time and it appears in my judgment that I likely entered a building cell that was not referenced on nexrad image less than 5 minutes old. Crossing this frontal boundary again; I would request even more significant deviations and remain at an altitude that allowed visual conditions as much as practical. As additional follow up; I train yearly with type-specific instructor and I believe this instruction allowed me to regain control of the aircraft and assess the aircraft loss of control as expeditiously as possible. I also want to thank ATC for providing efficient help in re-routing in what was a busy day near dtw airspace. This flight concluded with further deviations throughout the flight. As I flew past green bay; build-ups began in earnest again and I climbed to 16;000 ft to maintain visual separation from clouds. Again with significant deviations from 'direct' flight plan; I was able to maintain clearance from thunderstorms obvious through the aircraft windscreen and on nexrad. Although canceling the flight with minneapolis center while still airborne the controller did not receive cancellation and a phone call was required to close out flight plan.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Columbia 400 pilot related their misadventures using NEXRAD and its derivatives to navigate near thunderstorms.

Narrative: During the cruise flight at 12;000 FT on IFR flight plan in IMC; I experienced turbulence in a build up that caused loss of aircraft control. As I recall the timing of events; I was under Cleveland Center control at the time and was on an approximate 290 degree heading and deviating around obvious thunderstorm cells easily viewed on NEXRAD some 20 nautical miles northwest of Toledo; Ohio. In less than a second I found the aircraft in a 90-degree bank and descending over 1000 FT per minute. This event was accompanied by unexpected heavy rain. After leveling the wings I found myself on an approximate 90-degree heading; and at 11;200 FT altitude. Once stabilized on this heading and regaining the assigned 12;000 FT altitude I asked for the re-route to gain time to assess weather and the best course of action. I was handed off to Detroit Approach Control and they assigned 10;000 FT altitude and granted request to direct Ann Arbor and then direct destination. At the time of the event I was navigating in part on NEXRAD images on my moving map to avoid as much precipitation as possible; At the time of the event I was clear of all precipitation on the moving map over ten miles in any direction. There were isolated thunderstorms across a wide area of Michigan and Ohio. At this time and it appears in my judgment that I likely entered a building cell that was not referenced on NEXRAD image less than 5 minutes old. Crossing this frontal boundary again; I would request even more significant deviations and remain at an altitude that allowed visual conditions as much as practical. As additional follow up; I train yearly with type-specific instructor and I believe this instruction allowed me to regain control of the aircraft and assess the aircraft loss of control as expeditiously as possible. I also want to thank ATC for providing efficient help in re-routing in what was a busy day near DTW airspace. This flight concluded with further deviations throughout the flight. As I flew past Green Bay; build-ups began in earnest again and I climbed to 16;000 FT to maintain visual separation from clouds. Again with significant deviations from 'direct' flight plan; I was able to maintain clearance from thunderstorms obvious through the aircraft windscreen and on NEXRAD. Although canceling the flight with Minneapolis Center while still airborne the Controller did not receive cancellation and a phone call was required to close out flight plan.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.