Tahiti AT72 at Nuku Hiva on Sep 29th 2025, flight controls jammed on very short final

Last Update: August 28, 2026 / 19:34:58 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Sep 29, 2025

Classification
Incident

Airline
Air Tahiti

Flight number
VT-807

Aircraft Registration
F-ORVO

Aircraft Type
ATR ATR-72-200

ICAO Type Designator
AT72

An Air Tahiti Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72-212A, registration F-ORVO performing flight VT-807 from Hiva-Oa [NTMN, HIX] to Nuku Hiva (French Polynesia), was on short final to Nuku Hiva's runway 06 descending through about 70 feet AGL when the crew noticed the flight controls were jammed preventing a further descent and initiated a go around resulting the elevators uncoupling (PITCH DISCONNECT). The crew positioned for another approach and landed on runway 06 without further incident about 15 minutes later.

The French BEA rated the occurrence a serious incident and opened an investigation.

The aircraft remained on the ground for about 46 hours, then resumed service.

On Aug 28th 2026 the BEA released their final report concluding:

During the final approach, the crew experienced a restriction in the nose-down deflection of the elevator control on the captain’s side. The Pitch Uncoupling Mechanism (PUM) which separates the captain and co-pilot elevator controls, was activated by the nose-down inputs applied by the copilot who was PF at the time. The PUM system operated in accordance with its specifications and with what it was designed for, namely the jamming of the controls. It allowed the crew to control the aeroplane during the go-around up to the landing performed without difficulty by the co-pilot.

The pilots reacted in an appropriate way to the situation and continued to work together until landing.

When requested by the BEA and ATR, Air Tahiti inspected all of the elevator control channel without finding any anomaly. Tests were also carried by the BEA and ATR to assess a possible link between the nose-down restriction and the presence of nests discovered in the aeroplane after the occurrence. The tests proved inconclusive.

No other anomaly affecting the elevator control was reported on the aeroplane after its return to service.

The investigation was not able to determine what caused the restriction in the nose-down deflection of the elevator control.

The ATSB added:

The analysis of the flight parameters confirmed the restriction in the nose-down deflection of the elevator control channel on the captain’s side without being able to explain the reason for this.

Given that the inputs applied to the controls are measured by a dynamometric rod situated under the cockpit floor, before the departure of the control cables, the hypothesis of an object in the cockpit having jammed the control channel was excluded.

Likewise, the various elevator positions during the restriction meant that it was possible to exclude jamming due to the Gust Lock and Stick Pusher.

Between 30 September and 21 October, all of the elevator control channel was inspected by Air Tahiti in coordination with the BEA and ATR. Apart from some bird nests found at the top of the vertical stabilizer, no anomaly was reported.

The presence of nest material in certain areas of an aeroplane is a phenomenon sometimes observed by operators and aircraft manufacturers. Similar cases of nest building have been reported in the past by ATR operators on completion of inspections. Their presence had not been detected by the crews during the before take-off control deflection tests and had not had an operational impact.

As there was no other hypothesis to explain the restriction in the nose-down deflection during the occurrence, ground tests were carried out on an ATR test plane in the presence of the BEA to assess the possibility of the elevator control having been jammed by nest material inside the vertical stabilizer.

None of the tests performed reproduced jamming of the elevator controls by nest material at the junction between the aeroplane’s horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer, the area in which the nests had been identified during inspections carried out by Air Tahiti.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Sep 29, 2025

Classification
Incident

Airline
Air Tahiti

Flight number
VT-807

Aircraft Registration
F-ORVO

Aircraft Type
ATR ATR-72-200

ICAO Type Designator
AT72

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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