Narrative:

We were dealing with continuous light and occasional moderate turbulence for most of the flight. ATC kept telling us other altitudes were better (started at FL340); so we tried FL320 and FL300; and eventually FL280. Had the flight attendants (flight attendant) seated; seatbelt sign was on; and told the passengers multiple times to stay seated with seatbelts. Flew .76M for turbulence penetration speed; and had the engine heat on (VMC; but wanted the ignition on). Many reports of moderate turbulence across southeast; but nothing worse. Finally somewhere east of the MHZ VOR ATC said it would smooth out around MHZ. Instead; about 30 east of MHZ; experienced rapid onset of severe turbulence. Aircraft was on edge of control; and moving violently. Requested immediate change in altitude; was told FL340 was best bet at that point. Started immediate climb. Turbulence was severe for several minutes; all the way from FL280 to FL300. Airspeed deviations of plus and minus 30 knots between FL280 and FL300. Moderate until almost FL340. Once ride was better; checked in with flight attendant's. No one injured; either flight attendant or passengers. Never exceeded vmo/mmo either; luckily. Aircraft felt normal; continued with descent and approach. By coincidence; both my first officer and I used to fly [as] hurricane hunters. We both felt that this turbulence was the worst (or at least the longest duration of severe) somewhat equivalent to a hurricane penetration.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reported encountering tubulence so severe he compared it to his previous experience in planned hurricane penetration flights.

Narrative: We were dealing with continuous light and occasional moderate turbulence for most of the flight. ATC kept telling us other altitudes were better (started at FL340); so we tried FL320 and FL300; and eventually FL280. Had the Flight Attendants (FA) seated; seatbelt sign was on; and told the Passengers multiple times to stay seated with seatbelts. Flew .76M for turbulence penetration speed; and had the engine heat on (VMC; but wanted the Ignition on). Many reports of moderate turbulence across southeast; but nothing worse. Finally somewhere east of the MHZ VOR ATC said it would smooth out around MHZ. Instead; about 30 east of MHZ; experienced rapid onset of severe turbulence. Aircraft was on edge of control; and moving violently. Requested immediate change in altitude; was told FL340 was best bet at that point. Started immediate climb. Turbulence was severe for several minutes; all the way from FL280 to FL300. Airspeed deviations of plus and minus 30 knots between FL280 and FL300. Moderate until almost FL340. Once ride was better; checked in with FA's. No one injured; either FA or Passengers. Never exceeded VMO/MMO either; luckily. Aircraft felt normal; continued with descent and approach. By coincidence; both my First Officer and I used to fly [as] Hurricane Hunters. We both felt that this turbulence was the worst (or at least the longest duration of severe) somewhat equivalent to a hurricane penetration.

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.