GA SMA UNAUTH PENETRATION OF AIRSPACE AND INFLT ENCOUNTER WITH SEVERE TURBULENCE.
Synopsis
GA SMA UNAUTH PENETRATION OF AIRSPACE AND INFLT ENCOUNTER WITH SEVERE TURBULENCE.
Narrative
DEPARTED DCA; 4/88; AFTER RECEIVING WX BRIEFING THAT STATED THAT THERE WAS SOME CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY N OF THE ARPT. BUT; TOWARD THE S IN THE DIRECTION OF RALEIGH; NC; WHICH WAS MY DEST; ANY CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY WAS WIDELY SCATTERED. BEFORE TAKING OFF I WAS CLRED FOR A NW DEP ON A RADIAL OF THE DCA VOR. AS I WAS GIVEN POS AND HOLD ON RWY 33 I WAS INFORMED OF A MILD WIND SHEAR DETECTED BY THE ARPTS LOW-LEVEL WIND SHEAR ALERT SYS. TKOF ROLL AND INITIAL CLBOUT WERE NORMAL. DCA TWR TOLD ME TO CONTACT DEP ABOUT THE TIME I ENTERED IMC CONDITIONS AND STARTED TO SEE SOME LIGHTNING REFLECTED AROUND INSIDE THE CLOUDS THAT I WAS IN. I HAD TO CALL DEP SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE THEY RESPONDED; AND BY THE TIME THAT THEY DID I ENCOUNTERED SEVERE TURB. THE TURB WAS THE WORST THAT I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED. I WAS JUST BARELY ABLE TO MAINTAIN THE ACFT IN AN UPRIGHT ATTITUDE AND HAD NO CTL OVER DIRECTION OR ALT. AT THIS TIME MY VOR RECEIVERS BOTH BEGAN TO WILDLY FLUCTUATE AND I NOTICED ST ELMO'S FIRE HAD APPEARED FAIRLY BRIGHTLY ON THE TIPS OF THE PROPS. THE TURB WAS SO SEVERE THAT I COULD NOT READ THE FLT INSTRUMENTS VERY ACCURATELY; THEREFORE I AM NOT SURE OF WHAT MY HDG WAS. I ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT DEP AND INFORM THEM OF MY SITUATION; BUT APPARENTLY MY XMISSIONS WERE EXTREMELY GARBLED AND UNREADABLE BY THEM. THE ST ELMO'S FIRE HAD COVERED MOST OF THE FRONT SECTION OF THE PLANE. THE ACFT DID NOT HAVE STATIC DISCHARGE ROPES AND I HAVE ATTRIBUTED THE RADIO PROBS TO STATIC BUILDUP ON THE ACFT. DEP TRIED TO CONTACT ME SEVERAL TIMES; ALL OF WHICH I RESPONDED TO; BUT EITHER THEY DID NOT HEAR ME OR I WAS TOTALLY GARBLED. I THOUGHT THAT I HEARD THEM SAY THAT I HAD OVERFLOWN PART OF THE PROHIBITED AREA WHICH I HAVE INTERPRETED AS BEING P56. DEP WAS HAVING ME SQUAWK IDENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR MESSAGES AND THEY APPARENTLY REALIZED THAT I WAS IN HEAVY WX BECAUSE THEY SAID THEY WOULD TRY TO VECTOR ME OUT OF IT. EVENTUALLY I WAS VECTORED CLR OF WX. I SHOULD HAVE REALIZED THAT THE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY RPTED N OF THE ARPT COULD BE A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR SINCE DEPS THAT EVENING WERE TO THE N. I WRONGLY EXPECTED THAT I WOULD BE TURNED S BEFORE ENCOUNTERING ANY OF THE ACTIVITY. I ALSO SHOULD HAVE REALIZED THAT THE LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR WARNING THAT I HAD RIGHT BEFORE TKOF WAS A CLUE THAT TSTMS WERE NEAR BY. DEP INFORMED ME DURING CLBOUT THAT THEY WERE suppressing WX RETURNS ON THEIR RADAR AND ONLY HAD MINIMAL AVOIDANCE HELP FOR ME. ALTHOUGH I ADMIT THAT I SHOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN OFF UNTIL THE WX HAD PASSED; IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A BIG HELP IF THERE WERE ADEQUATE GND BASED WX RADAR FOR CTLRS. THE TECHNOLOGY CERTAINLY EXISTS AND PROBABLY THE MAIN HINDERANCE TO THIS IS BUDGETARY CONSTRAINTS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.