A300 flight crew reported severe turbulence and loss of aircraft control during climb.
Synopsis
A300 flight crew reported severe turbulence and loss of aircraft control during climb.
Narrative
Level at 330 with moderate turbulence we were told it was light chop at 350 by ATC. We requested and were given climb to 350. Going through 340 we encountered moderate to severe turbulence with an airspeed gain of 15 KTS followed by A loss of to 35 KTS. I used alt hold to level off but the turbulence and sheer was still allowing the speed to decrease rapidly. I disconnected the auto throttles and pushed them to max and the speed was still deteriorating. I entered the hook on the airspeed and the trend was still slowing. I disconnected auto pilot and lowered nose to pick up speed. With nose down an max power we were able to increase speed back to selected speed. We told ATC right away wile I was maneuvering and descending which they gave us a block alt. They never question any of this but we did communicate the sheer and turbulence. This all happened in a 30 second period wile the turbulence lasted several minutes. We never exceeded any aircraft speed limitations and we didn't exceed any engine limits. we also didn't receive any wind shear warnings. We began are climb back to cleared altitude of 350. We were encountering very challenging turbulence the entire time of event. We did descend about 800 feet while mitigating airspeed loss during sheer and climb and decent.Cause: turbulence.Suggestions: Avoid turbulence. I will say our training several cycles ago showed us high alt approach to stick shaker and recovery and was a very valuable tool dealing with this event even though we never received a stick shaker. Kudos to our training department.
Second reporter narrative
Climbing through 340 to 350 encountered moderate to severe turbulence with a loss of 30 knots. Captain disconnected the autopilot and had to descend 1000 feet to increase airspeed out of the hook. ATC gave us a block altitude. Turbulence lasted 2 minutes then conditions returned to normal. Climbed to FL 350.Cause: Unexpected wind shift / Shear.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.