CRJ-900 flight crew reported encountering significant wake turbulence on arrival into DFW in trail of an A321.
Synopsis
CRJ-900 flight crew reported encountering significant wake turbulence on arrival into DFW in trail of an A321.
Narrative
While descending into DFW on the STAR we had been given a descent down to 6;000 ft. while on essentially the downwind. We had already been flying 210 kts on the arrival and were then slowed to 190 kts while at flaps 1. At some point we encountered a small amount of wake that lightly banked the aircraft to both sides; to which I momentarily accelerated and then returned to speed after passing through. I made a remark about hating wake turbulence and we continued descending. About 30 seconds later somewhere below 8;000 ft. we hit a much heavier section of wake. As we entered the turbulence; the aircraft began abruptly banking to one side and then the other. As I began advancing the thrust again; the wake worsened and the aircraft began a quick left rolling action to which I instinctively disconnected the autopilot and began pushing the nose down. The controls seemed washy and ineffective and for a moment I believed a stall imminent. It felt like the aircraft was rolling quickly although I believe I managed to arrest the bank before we exceeded 30 degrees.I began leveling off and called for the First Officer (FO) to turn on continuous ignition for the turbulence. About that moment ATC gave us a left turn instruction and I quickly uttered 'unable' to the FO; as he gave a more proper response to them something along the lines of 'unable; we're going through some strong wake turbulence and going straight ahead'. At about this time the overspeed clacker began going off as I passed 230 kts. I ignored the clacker as I prioritized escaping the wake and climbing a few hundred feet; I think the clacker was going off for about 30 seconds although the speed never got above 240 kts. ATC told us simply to let them know when we could take a base turn. Once we were well clear of the wake; we recovered our speed and flight path; re-engaged the autopilot; and told ATC we could take the turn. I quickly made sure the flight attendants were okay (they were safely seated but anxious and concerned by the encounter) and we proceeded to intercept the approach to land. Once we parked; I conferred with Maintenance Control over the proper write up and I spoke with the chiefs to make sure I wasn't missing anything that needed to be immediately done before continuing my work day.
Second reporter narrative
We were on downwind for [Runway] 17C with slat extended; hit by a pretty bad wake turbulence. Left wing dropped dramatically and airspeed dropped as well. Captain; who was Pilot Flying (PF); discontinued AP; added thrust and started a climb to 7;700 from 7;000 feet. We were able to escape from the wake. During the escape we were unable to follow ATC's instructions; however we told ATC we were encountering with wake turbulence and need to maintain a straight heading. Later was approved to do so without any violations. We successfully landed without any aircraft damage and nobody got injured either.
NASA callback
Reporter stated he believed they were in trail of an A321; and it was the strongest wake encounter he has experienced in his career.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.