Preliminary Reports - Sovereign Pummeled by Turbulence

The CitationAir Sovereign was substantially damaged after an encounter with turbulence during cruise flight. The twinjet was on a Part 91 positioning flight in clear air from Denver’s Centennial Airport to Eagle County Airport when it was buffeted by extreme turbulence that lasted less than a minute. As the autopilot disengaged, the crew was briefly unable to keep the wings level and maintain altitude or airspeed. Post-flight inspection revealed overstress damage that caused wrinkling and debonding of the top skin of both wings. The two pilots were uninjured.떵