A C208 ATX PLT MAKES AN UNUSUAL OBSERVATION OF A TWIN CESSNA RAINMAKER SEEDING CLOUDS THAT WERE ASSOCIATED WITH A TSTM OF LEVEL 3 DEVELOPING INTO A LEVEL 5 TSTM SW OF LBB; TX.

2000-06 · NASA ASRS report 474460

Date: 2000-06 · Aircraft: Caravan 208A · Phase: descent

Anomalies: inflight-event-encounter-other-unknown|inflight-event-encounter-weather-turbulence|other-wx-enhancement-procs

Synopsis

A C208 ATX PLT MAKES AN UNUSUAL OBSERVATION OF A TWIN CESSNA RAINMAKER SEEDING CLOUDS THAT WERE ASSOCIATED WITH A TSTM OF LEVEL 3 DEVELOPING INTO A LEVEL 5 TSTM SW OF LBB; TX.

Narrative

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

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

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