Twin engine pilot reported loss of aircraft control while in weather the pilot described as either a micro-burst or tornado.

2024-05 · NASA ASRS report 2126155

Date: 2024-05 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; Low Wing; 2 Eng; Retractable Gear · Phase: approach

Anomalies: inflight-event-encounter-loss-of-aircraft-control|inflight-event-encounter-weather-turbulence

Synopsis

Twin engine pilot reported loss of aircraft control while in weather the pilot described as either a micro-burst or tornado.

Narrative

While descending into ZZZ while speaking with approach I entered an extreme weather phenomenon. I believe it was either a very intense microburst or possibly a tornado.At 10;300ft the plane was under control and for lack of a better way to describe it; a giant hand came from the sky and flipped my plane over. I was inverted and the VSI was pegged at 3000fpm descent. Control inputs were seeming to have no effect. The HSI was useless as it was upside down. I managed to briefly regain control of the aircraft at about 8000 feet when I inputted full right rudder combined with full aileron. I was able to climb the plane back up to about 10;000; but this control was short lived as the weather rolled the plane again. This time far more violently. I plummeted in 10-20 seconds from 10;000 to 2;200 MSL. Somehow; I was able to get the plane rolled back again and initiated a climb. I believe that climbed back up to around 5;000MLS; but I can't say that I had the plane under control. While inverted the HSI provided no valid data; and even when I managed to get the plane upright. the HSI seemed to lag - no doubt because it had been inverted twice. I lost my headset in the second violent roll and was unable to communicate with ATC until I had the plane back under control. I had to ask ATC to confirm my headings and altitude as the instruments seemed to be struggling to recover. There were columns of air pushing the plane up and down with great force. My airspeed remained very low despite the rapid ascents and descents. This is why I believe it was a microburst or even a tornado. The control inputs had little to no effect. With the help of ATC - I finally stabilized the plane and they helped direct me west to a VFR airport where I landed without incident.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

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