Thomson B752 at Bristol on Feb 1st 2016, low speed during go around

Last Update: November 10, 2016 / 19:16:25 GMT/Zulu time

Bookmark this article
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 1, 2016

Classification
Report

Flight number
BY-6131

Aircraft Registration
G-OOBE

Aircraft Type
Boeing 757-200

ICAO Type Designator
B752

A Thomson Airways Boeing 757-200, registration G-OOBE performing flight BY-6131 from Las Palmas,CI (Spain) to Bristol,EN (UK) with 162 passengers and 8 crew, was on approach to Bristol's runway 27 in strong gusting winds with the first officer being pilot flying, Vapp was set to 142 KIAS with Vref at 132 KIAS. The approach was stabilized until about 300 feet AGL, then the airspeed began to increase, the commander (57, ATPL, 17,956 hours total, 6,730 hours on type), also rated as type rate examiner, called the speed drift, a short time later the aircraft began to rise the nose and became high and drifted to the left off the runway center line, hence the commander called a go-around. The first officer commenced the go-around, the commander set the flaps to the go-around position and retracted the gear, the first officer engaged the autopilot without calling out the autopilot was connected. The commander noticed a high pitch attitude was developing and speed was decaying, hence called to lower the nose being unaware that the autopilot was connected. The first officer was unable to correct the attitude quickly as the autopilot was connected. The situation evolved quickly as the aircraft was approaching the go-around altitude of 3000 feet and autothrust reduced thrust in order to level off. The airspeed decayed as low as 119 KIAS, however, the stick shaker did not activate. The aircraft was cleared to 5000 feet, the crew accelerated the aircraft retracting the flaps. As the gusts were reported increased the commander decided to assume the role of pilot flying and landed the aircraft safely on the second approach.

The AAIB released their bulletin stating, that due to the low level go-around altitude 3000 feet and the high rate of climb achieved the flight director had already switched to ALT CAP (altitude capture), the airspeed was decreasing through 160 KIAS and thrust was reducing, when the autopilot was engaged which resulted in the GA mode reactivated at the autopilot, the nose rose to 30.76 degrees nose up with a climb rate in excess of 6000 fpm with the airspeed dropping to 119 KIAS. When the flight director engaged ALTITUDE HOLD the autopilot reduced the attitude to 8 degrees reaching a minimum speed of 110 KIAS, stick shaker did not activate, the speed began to increase to 120 KIAS as the aircraft descended from 3100 to 3000 feet. Flaps were selected to position 5, however, no speed increase was commanded, only 10 seconds later 196 KIAS were selected into the speed window, the situation then normalized.

The AAIB analysed that the first officer had been on sick leave for 5.5 months. The first officer had conducted a simulator refresher training and had been flying the previous sector under the supervision of the type rating examiner, too.

The AAIB analysed:

The approach flown by the co-pilot became de-stabilised and a go-around was initiated. During the go-around a low-level alt cap occurred. The speed at which the go-around was initiated meant the flight directors commanded a high nose-up attitude. The rapidly increasing wind speed with altitude, turbulence and full go-around thrust combined to create a high rate of climb with an ever increasing nose-up attitude. The alt cap annunciation occurred a short time before the autopilot was engaged and initially went unnoticed by the crew, and the AFCS was unable to recover the nose-high upset. The commander was unaware that the autopilot had been engaged so his coaching of the co-pilot to reduce the aircraft’s pitch attitude was ineffective and, with autothrottle and autopilot engaged, the airspeed reduced to a minimum of 110 kt.

The operator’s safety investigation considered that, during the high workload period of a go‑around, there was a degradation in the situational awareness of the crew. The crew were “startled” and their performance was affected, as confirmed by their subsequent selection of flap 5 whilst the aircraft was not accelerating. This was eventually corrected and the aircraft landed safely.

The commander commented that the incident highlighted the importance of FMA monitoring by the PM. With hindsight, he also considered that he should have intervened earlier, and taken control of the aircraft for the go-around.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 1, 2016

Classification
Report

Flight number
BY-6131

Aircraft Registration
G-OOBE

Aircraft Type
Boeing 757-200

ICAO Type Designator
B752

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

You can read 2 more free articles without a subscription.

Subscribe now and continue reading without any limits!

Are you a subscriber? Login
Subscribe

Read unlimited articles and receive our daily update briefing. Gain better insights into what is happening in commercial aviation safety.

Send tip

Support AeroInside by sending a small tip amount.

Related articles

Newest articles

Subscribe today

Are you researching aviation incidents? Get access to AeroInside Insights, unlimited read access and receive the daily newsletter.

Pick your plan and subscribe

Partner

Blockaviation logo

A new way to document and demonstrate airworthiness compliance and aircraft value. Find out more.

ELITE Logo

ELITE Simulation Solutions is a leading global provider of Flight Simulation Training Devices, IFR training software as well as flight controls and related services. Find out more.

Blue Altitude Logo

Your regulation partner, specialists in aviation safety and compliance; providing training, auditing, and consultancy services. Find out more.

AeroInside Blog
Popular aircraft
Airbus A320
Boeing 737-800
Boeing 737-800 MAX
Popular airlines
American Airlines
United
Delta
Air Canada
Lufthansa
British Airways