B737-800
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness
Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure
While at cruise with the seat belt sign off; we encountered a double bump of heavy-moderate turbulence. I concluded that it was probably wake turbulence from an aircraft that had crossed sometime above us. After ensuring that the cabin crew and passengers were all okay; I called ATC (I believe it was MSP Center) to inquire what type of aircraft that had crossed above us. She told us that it was an A380 and it had crossed our path 6 minutes before. The First Officer stated that it was only 1;000 FT above us; but I can't swear to the actual crossing altitude as we had several aircraft crossing along our route at that time. It's my understanding that separation from A380 aircraft is supposed to be 2;000 FT and 5 minutes. Perhaps this should be reconsidered as the turbulence we encountered could have caused injuries to anyone up in the aisle or galley. We were fortunate that no one was injured. The incident happened at night so we were completely unaware that we were in the vicinity of an A380 and were not expecting any turbulence wake-related or otherwise. We were flying a B-737-800.
A B737-800 pilot experienced wake vortices from an A380 while en route.