King Air C90 E90
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200; Flight Crew Total 3400; Flight Crew Type 1000
Situational Awareness
Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control
Human Factors; Procedure; Weather
There was a lot of hazardous weather in the region: high winds at most airports to the south; low IFR most places along the coast; convective activity around [the area]; and a SIGMET for turbulence and LLWS on the east side of the [mountains]. I chose ZZZ because it was one of the only airports I could find that would keep me out of all the (above) weather. Still; I was expecting to encounter some ice and some turbulence on the flight. Enroute to ZZZ; we encountered mostly smooth air; and light-to-moderate chop turbulence for about 1/4 of the cruise segment; approximately as we flew over [a mountain]; we encountered a brief stretch of severe turbulence: I was unable to control the airplane for what I think was about 20 seconds; aside from bringing the power back to 400 LBS per side and keeping the aircraft oriented top-side-up.During this time we had rather violent altitude fluctuations of approximately +/- 300 feet; heading changes of +/- 30 degrees. All three occupants fortunately were securely seat belted; so we did not sustain any injuries. After the air smoothed out again; we were able to initiate our descent into ZZZ and continue the flight without incident. On the ground in ZZZ; I considered whether or not to fly back to ZZZ1 in similar weather conditions. Based on the fact that we only encountered the severe turbulence in one location for a brief time; and the fact that I was planning to use different routing and different altitude for the leg home; I decided to fly back to ZZZ1 and did so with no further incident. Upon arrival at ZZZ1; I notified [the Operations Manager] and he offered to research whether or not it would be prudent for us to do any inspections on the aircraft. A post-flight walk-around inspection did not reveal any damage to the aircraft.
King Air Captain reported encountering severe turbulence prior to landing and then departing again prior to completion of a severe turbulence inspection.