Flybe DH8D at Dusseldorf on Jul 16th 2018, retracted flaps instead of gear

Last Update: July 11, 2019 / 14:47:57 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Flybe G-JEDU, De Havilland Dash 8 (400) — Flybe G-JEDU, De Havilland Dash 8 (400) (Photo credit: eastleighbusman / Flickr / License: CC by-nd)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jul 16, 2018

Classification
Report

Airline
Flybe

Flight number
BE-1400

Departure
Dusseldorf, Germany

Destination
London City, United Kingdom

Aircraft Registration
G-JEDU

Aircraft Type
De Havilland Dash 8 (400)

ICAO Type Designator
DH8D

A Flybe de Havilland Dash 8-400, registration G-JEDU performing flight BE-1400 from Dusseldorf (Germany) to London City,EN (UK) with 77 passengers and 4 crew, was climbing out of Dusseldorf's runway 05R following a maximum takeoff power departure, the flight crew faced straight into the sun. The captain called gear up, the first officer inadvertently moved the flaps lever into the up position. The captain, pilot flying, did not notice the error, the aircraft handling appeared normal. The takeoff and climb sequence was subsequently completed normally, the aircraft climbed to FL240 and landed safely at London's City Airport.

The UK AAIB released their bulletin concluding the causes of the serious incident were:

The Pilot Monitoring retracted the flaps instead of the landing gear after takeoff. This may have occurred because both actions are expected during this phase of flight. Takeoff into the sun may have caused the Pilot Flying some difficulty in noticing the slip.

The operator had previously found distraction to be a factor in such occurrences and believed that they were occurring less frequently than in the past. However, its standard operating procedures for flap and landing gear retraction involved the one stage selection and movement of a lever by the Pilot Monitoring in response to a call by the Pilot Flying.

Retraction of the flap instead of the landing gear is a human error and is not unique to this operator, aircraft type or stage of flight. Previous occurrences have resulted in action by operators to amend relevant procedures, and the UK CAA accepted the earlier AAIB Safety Recommendation 2006-002 to encourage operators to monitor landing gear and flap mis-selections.

The AAIB sumarized the sequence of events and the captain's comments:

During the initial climb from Runway 05R at Düsseldorf Airport the commander called for the landing gear to be raised and the co-pilot inadvertently raised the flaps instead. The commander reported that he did not notice the flaps being selected because the sun was shining into the cockpit, making the primary flight display difficult to see. Furthermore, particularly because he had used “normal takeoff power”’ for departure, rather than a reduced power setting, the performance of the aircraft masked the effects of the flap retraction.

The commander stated that he may have heard the co-pilot mention “flaps” at the time but because this occurred immediately after another standard operational call relating to flight guidance mode selection, he thought he had misheard. The takeoff sequence was otherwise completed normally.

Commander’s comment

The commander indicated that he was not immediately aware of the early flap retraction. He characterised this as a “skill based error” and noted that it could lead the aircraft to stall.