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Emb-145LR captain reported his aircraft rolled 50 degrees after encountering wake turbulence in trail of an A380.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1352419 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201604 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | IAH.Airport |
| State Reference | TX |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | A380 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 129 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control |
Narrative:
During arrival to iah ATC informed us several times that we were in trail of a heavy airbus A380 by roughly 12 miles. The wind was steady from left to right and overall the flight was smooth. At around 7000 the wind slowly shifted to a direct headwind and we encountered the airbus's wake. The aircraft rolled smoothly but quickly to around 50 degrees; kicking off the auto pilot. It then quickly rolled the other direction and we lost a few hundred feet. The first officer was flying; he recovered all control and I told him to take up a heading off the airway while I communicated with ATC. We requested vectors off the airway to arrival while still following the airbus. The first officer stayed half a dot high on the glide slope and the landing was uneventful.the wake turbulence was continuously broadcast by ATC and despite the warning we were still too close. Threats included loss of roll control; loss of altitude control and a heading deviation. It may be useful to separate the A380 from normal airways and altitudes or increase separation minimums from other traffic. Another option could be to have in trail aircraft fly above the A380 assigned altitude (7200) as well.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: EMB-145LR Captain reported his aircraft rolled 50 degrees after encountering wake turbulence in trail of an A380.
Narrative: During arrival to IAH ATC informed us several times that we were in trail of a heavy Airbus A380 by roughly 12 miles. The wind was steady from left to right and overall the flight was smooth. At around 7000 the wind slowly shifted to a direct headwind and we encountered the Airbus's wake. The aircraft rolled smoothly but quickly to around 50 degrees; kicking off the auto pilot. It then quickly rolled the other direction and we lost a few hundred feet. The First Officer was flying; he recovered all control and I told him to take up a heading off the airway while I communicated with ATC. We requested vectors off the airway to arrival while still following the Airbus. The FO stayed half a dot high on the glide slope and the landing was uneventful.The wake turbulence was continuously broadcast by ATC and despite the warning we were still too close. Threats included loss of roll control; loss of altitude control and a heading deviation. It may be useful to separate the A380 from normal airways and altitudes or increase separation minimums from other traffic. Another option could be to have in trail aircraft fly above the A380 assigned altitude (7200) as well.
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.