On April 4, the crew of a New York-Paris flight carried out a go-around as they prepared to land at Roissy airport.
The investigation into the causes of the “incident grave“, in early April, of an Air France Boeing 777 in the landing phase at Roissy points to the responsibility of the pilots, according to a point on the investigations released on Wednesday by the Bureau of Investigations and Analysis (BEA).
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Approaching Paris airport on April 4, the crew of flight AF011 New York-Paris had performed a go-around as they prepared to land. The plane, with 177 passengers and 15 crew members on board, finally landed safely after a second approach. “We went around so, flight control problem, the plane did almost anything“, had explained the pilot to the control tower, according to audio extracts of the exchanges between the cockpit and the tower posted online on the internet.
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The analysis of the black boxes containing the recording of the flight data (FDR) and the conversations in the cockpit (CVR) seems to rule out any technical problem. “No malfunction alarm was triggered during the event. No anomaly was observed on the aircraft“says the BEA.
“Opposing Efforts”
All the action took place in less than a minute, details the investigation office. While at 340 meters altitude, a different perception of the situation between the captain and the co-pilot caused them to abort the descent and go around. It didn’t seem justified becauseuntil the go-around, the trajectory remained within the operator’s stabilization criteria“, according to the BEA.
L’«plate“, That is to say the angle of ascent, was then too important for this type of maneuver, he believes. This resulted in a desynchronization of the pitch controls – which determine the angle of the trim – “due to opposing efforts» : «The Captain maintained the pitch control slightly nose down while the co-pilot repeatedly applied more marked pitch-up inputs.» Once stabilized, the crew «analyzes the situation, without having perceived the antagonistic actions on the controls“, adds the BEA.
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Asked by AFP, Air France affirmed that it “continues to cooperate fully with the investigation“. The company “recalls that the go-around procedure is defined by aircraft manufacturers and Air France as a normal procedure, which is in line with safety». «Crews are trained and regularly practiced in these procedures practiced by all airlines“, she adds, recalling”that the safety of flights, its customers and its crews is an absolute imperative».
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