B737-800 captain reported encountering wake turbulence at FL300 in trail of a B747 resulting in a 45...

Narrative:

While in cruise at FL300; the aircraft encountered the wake of a B747 ahead. The aircraft abruptly banked 45-60 degrees left uncontrollably. We also lost 200-300 feet in altitude. The first officer (pilot flying) regained control of the plane and stabilized the flight path by overriding the autopilot. I advised ATC and was told the 747 was 10 miles ahead. We were talking to abq center at the time in the vicinity of the beginning of the eagul arrival into phx.if we were really 10 miles behind the waking aircraft; as ATC claimed at the time; then that is woefully inadequate spacing. The aircraft banked in excess of our capability to correct initially. We had passengers thrown to the ground and scared. Wake turbulence dissipates over time not distance and that should be the criteria for adequate spacing to prevent these occurrences.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-800 Captain reported encountering wake turbulence at FL300 in trail of a B747 resulting in a 45-60 degree bank and loss of 200-300 feet of altitude.

Narrative: While in cruise at FL300; The aircraft encountered the wake of a B747 ahead. The aircraft abruptly banked 45-60 degrees left uncontrollably. We also lost 200-300 feet in altitude. The FO (pilot flying) regained control of the plane and stabilized the flight path by overriding the autopilot. I advised ATC and was told the 747 was 10 miles ahead. We were talking to ABQ Center at the time in the vicinity of the beginning of the Eagul arrival into PHX.If we were really 10 miles behind the waking aircraft; as ATC claimed at the time; then that is woefully inadequate spacing. The aircraft banked in excess of our capability to correct initially. We had passengers thrown to the ground and scared. Wake turbulence dissipates over time not distance and that should be the criteria for adequate spacing to prevent these occurrences.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1208657
Time
Date	201410
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZAB.ARTCC
State Reference	NM
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-800
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	B747 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter

B737-800 captain reported encountering wake turbulence at FL300 in trail of a B747 resulting in a 45-60 degree bank and loss of 200-300 feet of altitude.