B737 captain reports a severe turbulence encounter at FL320 resulting in a 600 foot altitude loss.

Attributes
ACN	1173629
Time
Date	201405
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZLA.ARTCC
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 305
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

Encountered severe turbulence approximately 50 NM east of bethl at FL320 that caused loss of aircraft control for approximately five to ten seconds. At the time of the event; there were no reports of turbulence in the area. The aircraft started vibrating and then went into a violent wing roll to the right and then to the left. The autopilot was disconnected and control of the aircraft was regained. When control was regained; the aircraft had lost about 600 feet of altitude. A severe turbulence encounter was reported to ATC. ATC asked us if we were 'declaring an emergency'; our response was no since we had recovered control of the aircraft. ATC informed us that there had been an 'altitude deviation' and that a report would be filed. I checked with the flight attendant who reported that everybody was okay and there were no injuries. The flight continued to landing without further events.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reports a severe turbulence encounter at FL320 resulting in a 600 foot altitude loss.

Narrative: Encountered severe turbulence approximately 50 NM east of BETHL at FL320 that caused loss of aircraft control for approximately five to ten seconds. At the time of the event; there were no reports of turbulence in the area. The aircraft started vibrating and then went into a violent wing roll to the right and then to the left. The autopilot was disconnected and control of the aircraft was regained. When control was regained; the aircraft had lost about 600 feet of altitude. A severe turbulence encounter was reported to ATC. ATC asked us if we were 'declaring an emergency'; our response was no since we had recovered control of the aircraft. ATC informed us that there had been an 'altitude deviation' and that a report would be filed. I checked with the Flight Attendant who reported that everybody was okay and there were no injuries. The flight continued to landing without further events.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.