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A B737-800 flight encountered severe turbulence and mountain wave at FL360 and suffered a loss of separation with an aircraft above unable to maintain altitude. One flight attendant was injured in the two to three minute exposure to the turbulence.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1180410 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201406 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZDV.ARTCC |
| State Reference | CO |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-800 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
At FL360 approximately 80 miles east of cos we began to experience light mountain wave activity. We observed crossing traffic at FL370 at our 12 o'clock position starting to descend on our TCAS. At approximately five miles we got a 'monitor vertical speed' aural warning immediately followed by a RA to 'descend.' as the captain responded to the RA and initiated a descent; we observed conflicting traffic pass off to our left a couple miles showing +600 feet above us. He was later heard saying he needed lower because he could not hold altitude due to wave activity. Around that time we hit the mountain wave and experienced severe turbulence lasting approx 2-3 minutes. The turbulence caused a few serious roll movements and yaw. Despite still recovering from the RA and trying to hold altitude; we climbed approximately 700 feet in a nose low attitude while in the wave. ATC was told of the deviation during the event. We leveled back at 360 and advised ATC of our RA. Company dispatch was notified and the aircraft was written up for a severe turbulence encounter.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B737-800 flight encountered severe turbulence and mountain wave at FL360 and suffered a loss of separation with an aircraft above unable to maintain altitude. One flight attendant was injured in the two to three minute exposure to the turbulence.
Narrative: At FL360 approximately 80 miles east of COS we began to experience light mountain wave activity. We observed crossing traffic at FL370 at our 12 o'clock position starting to descend on our TCAS. At approximately five miles we got a 'Monitor Vertical Speed' aural warning immediately followed by a RA to 'descend.' As the Captain responded to the RA and initiated a descent; we observed conflicting traffic pass off to our left a couple miles showing +600 feet above us. He was later heard saying he needed lower because he could not hold altitude due to wave activity. Around that time we hit the mountain wave and experienced severe turbulence lasting approx 2-3 minutes. The turbulence caused a few serious roll movements and yaw. Despite still recovering from the RA and trying to hold altitude; we climbed approximately 700 feet in a nose low attitude while in the wave. ATC was told of the deviation during the event. We leveled back at 360 and advised ATC of our RA. Company Dispatch was notified and the aircraft was written up for a severe turbulence encounter.
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.