August 19, Hammond, Minn. / Beech Duchess

At 0001 central time, a Beech BE-76 was damaged during a loss of control while in cruise flight near Hammond. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. The flight was IFR en route from Watertown, S.D., to Moline, Ill., at 7,000 feet when the pilot saw a lightning flash and encountered severe turbulence. The pilot said he pulled back on the yoke to maintain assigned altitude when the airplane went into a spin. He recovered the airplane at about 3,000 msl, returned to level flight and climbed back to his assigned altitude. After an uneventful landing, he discovered damage to the airplanes wings.