Narrative:

On the day of the flight; we observed two large thunderstorms over the midwest. The flight plan had us going through the weather. The captain and I discussed the best way to circumnavigate these two cells. We did not agree. The captain wanted to climb and try to top and go between the two cells. The distance between the two cells was approx 15 to 20 miles. I wanted to turn to the north and go around the cells avoiding them completely. This discussion lasted several minutes. Against my requests we climbed to FL380. The two cells were painting level 4 and 5 on the radar and tops to FL420 according to ATC. The wind was out of the northwest approximately 90K and the anvils of both could clearly be seen. The anvil of the first cell had blended into the second cell. Once we climbed to FL380; it was clear that we could not top the weather. I again asked the captain if he wanted to deviate. He did not. I turned on the seatbelt sign and asked the flight attendants to be seated; they complied. Approximately 3 to 4 minutes after penetrating the anvil; we experienced severe turbulence. The aircraft oversped by approximately 5 to 15 KTS; which disengaged the autopilot. The aircraft abruptly climbed 800 to 1200 ft. I immediately requested FL340 from ATC and was granted this. During this event; I asked the captain if he still felt as though he made the right decision. He agreed that we should have turned north to go around the weather. We were IMC for approximately 15 to 20 minutes with light to moderate turbulence the entire time. After we had passed through the weather the flight proceeded normally and as filed. We continued to circumnavigate around weather with us agreeing on the correct avoidance headings. The captain's trip ended in ZZZ. The flight attendants and I went on to our next destination. I had asked the flight attendants about the event. They told me they were very concerned and that some of the passengers had screamed and were holding on to each other. They said that there were no injuries reported. The captain's decision to attempt to top and go between the cells; I feel; was the wrong one. He later agreed stating that it didn't look that bad on radar. I also should have been more clear in my repeated requests to go around the weather. I will do this in future flights.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Captain and First Officer of an A319 disagreed on the proper method of transiting an area of thunderstorms. Captain decided to try to climb over them. Subsequent severe turbulence proved it to have been the wrong decision.

Narrative: On the day of the flight; we observed two large thunderstorms over the midwest. The flight plan had us going through the weather. The Captain and I discussed the best way to circumnavigate these two cells. We did not agree. The captain wanted to climb and try to top and go between the two cells. The distance between the two cells was approx 15 to 20 miles. I wanted to turn to the north and go around the cells avoiding them completely. This discussion lasted several minutes. Against my requests we climbed to FL380. The two cells were painting level 4 and 5 on the radar and tops to FL420 according to ATC. The wind was out of the northwest approximately 90K and the anvils of both could clearly be seen. The anvil of the first cell had blended into the second cell. Once we climbed to FL380; it was clear that we could not top the weather. I again asked the Captain if he wanted to deviate. He did not. I turned on the seatbelt sign and asked the flight attendants to be seated; they complied. Approximately 3 to 4 minutes after penetrating the anvil; we experienced severe turbulence. The aircraft oversped by approximately 5 to 15 KTS; which disengaged the autopilot. The aircraft abruptly climbed 800 to 1200 FT. I immediately requested FL340 from ATC and was granted this. During this event; I asked the Captain if he still felt as though he made the right decision. He agreed that we should have turned north to go around the weather. We were IMC for approximately 15 to 20 minutes with light to moderate turbulence the entire time. After we had passed through the weather the flight proceeded normally and as filed. We continued to circumnavigate around weather with us agreeing on the correct avoidance headings. The Captain's trip ended in ZZZ. The flight attendants and I went on to our next destination. I had asked the flight attendants about the event. They told me they were very concerned and that some of the passengers had screamed and were holding on to each other. They said that there were no injuries reported. The Captain's decision to attempt to top and go between the cells; I feel; was the wrong one. He later agreed stating that it didn't look that bad on radar. I also should have been more clear in my repeated requests to go around the weather. I will do this in future flights.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.