ZDV center controller reported a pilot needed an immediate descent due to severe turbulence.

Attributes
ACN	1427506
Time
Date	201702
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZDV.ARTCC
State Reference	CO
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 5
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

Aircraft X keyed up; unable to hold altitude. I gave him a descent clearance and asked if it was because of severe turbulence (we had no reports of severe but it was near the rockies and we had light to moderate chop in places). He said yes. He leveled off at FL290 and diverted to denver to check the aircraft for damage and reported no injuries.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZDV Center Controller reported a pilot needed an immediate descent due to severe turbulence.

Narrative: Aircraft X keyed up; unable to hold altitude. I gave him a descent clearance and asked if it was because of severe turbulence (we had no reports of severe but it was near the Rockies and we had light to moderate chop in places). He said yes. He leveled off at FL290 and diverted to Denver to check the aircraft for damage and reported no injuries.

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.