#Flight Ops

This section provides you with the articles that are relevant for flight crews

Inappropriate V/S Target during Autoflight Mode Reversion

January 2024

Two cases of inappropriate V/S target during an autoflight reversion to V/S mode after a go-around were recently reported to Airbus. In both cases, the inappropriate V/S target resulted in a pitch down command of the autopilot with high thrust. The flight guidance used the previously selected V/S value set during the preceding ILS glide slope intercept from above as a V/S target for the mode reversion.This article describes one of these events in detail and explains the conditions that caused this autoflight behavior. It provides operational recommendations to flight crews to prevent and detect this situation. It also lists the system enhancements that were launched to avoid the use of an inappropriate V/S or FPA target during a mode reversion of the flight guidance.

Look out for Ice Ridges on the Lower Nose Fuselage

December 2023

With the start of the winter season in the northern hemisphere, it is a timely reminder to re-publish this article, initially published in 2018. Ice ridges on the lower nose fuselage can cause Computed Airspeed (CAS) values delivered by the ADRs to be lower than the actual airspeed which may lead to unreliable airspeed events. This article describes the potential effect on the aircraft’s systems from the takeoff phase and how to prevent such situation.

Lightning Strikes

November 2023

Each in-service aircraft is struck by lightning at least once per year, on average. Even if the level of energy of lightning strikes is high, their effects on an aircraft are limited.This article explains the lightning phenomenon and why aircraft are prone to lightning strikes. It describes how aircraft are designed to limit the effects of a lightning strike and ensure that the safety of the flight is not impaired. It also recalls several safety precautions to take in flight and on the ground, and what must be done when an aircraft is struck by lightning.

Cockpit Control Confusion

October 2023

Inadvertent use of the wrong cockpit control instead of the intended control is a potential situation that pilots may encounter on any aircraft type. This kind of error can occur with even the most experienced pilots and this article explores what factors can influence and lead to this type of occurrence. The resilience of the aircraft systems to cope with such an error provides effective safety barriers to prevent serious events. The aim of this article is also to raise awareness of the potential causes and effects of cockpit control confusion incidents and provide information about best practices, which can help pilots to reduce the risks that may lead to operational and safety consequences.

Inadvertent Autopilot Engagement during Takeoff on A220 Aircraft

September 2023

Several in-service events were reported to Airbus where the flight crew inadvertently selected the autopilot while attempting to engage the autothrottle during the takeoff roll. Inadvertent autopilot engagement may result in early rotation that can lead to a tail strike, inability to climb, runway overrun, or even loss of control. The purpose of this article is to describe the circumstances leading to this type of event with a case study and to provide details about the procedure updates and planned product enhancements that aim to prevent recurrence.

Thrust Reverser Selection is a Decision to Stop

June 2023

The SOP for landing requests that the flight crew perform a full stop landing after thrust reversers selection. However, in-service flight data analysis revealed that the equivalent of one go-around per month is performed after selection of thrust reversers.
This article describes an event where the flight crew performed a go-around after they had selected thrust reversers on an A320 aircraft. The reverser on one engine remained deployed until the end of the flight.
The article explains how adherence to SOPs will prevent recurrence of this kind of event and describes the product enhancements that Airbus developed as additional safety barriers.

Non-Engagement of the Go-Around Modes in CLEAN Flaps Configuration

February 2023

There were several events reported to Airbus where the go-around guidance modes did not engage when flight crews initiated a go-around. The analysis of these events indicated that the aircraft were on approach in CLEAN flaps configuration. Some of these events led to a high-energy situation toward the ground at low altitudes.
This article explains why the go-around guidance modes do not engage on some aircraft if the go-around is initiated while the aircraft is in CLEAN flaps configuration. The article provides recommendations for flight crews if they face this situation. It describes the modifications that are planned to ensure that the go-around guidance modes engage when the flight crew initiates a go-around, even if the aircraft is on approach in CLEAN flaps configuration.

Use the Correct BARO Setting for Approach

November 2022

Using an erroneous barometric reference setting during approach may cause the aircraft to fly lower than the published approach path, when the vertical guidance and trajectory deviations use the barometric reference. This can lead to a risk of controlled flight into terrain in poor visibility conditions or at night.This article explains the potential consequences of an erroneous barometric reference. It also provides guidance to flight crews on how to detect it, and describes the available system enhancements to alert flight crews when an erroneous BARO reference is detected.

Take Care of Your Brakes

September 2022

All Brakes are subject to wear. Some brakes may also experience oxidation which can lead to brake rupture. In the case of a brake rupture or if brakes are too worn, the aircraft braking performance is reduced. This can result in a runway overrun if the full braking capacity is required such as during a rejected takeoff with an aircraft weight at or close to the maximum takeoff weight. Brake rupture can also lead to damage that can cause a brake fire due to hydraulic fluid coming into contact with hot parts.
This article describes carbon wear and oxidation phenomena. It recalls the maintenance procedures used to identify worn or oxidized brakes, flight crew procedures, and good practices to prevent brake wear and oxidation.

Prevention of EGT Overlimit Events

February 2022

A number of engine Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) overlimit events at takeoff were reported to Airbus, including dual events leading to a significant increase in flight crew workload at low altitude.
This article recalls the importance of monitoring the EGT margin of each engine to detect any degradation in engine performance early, and provides recommendations to Maintenance, Flight Operations, and flight crews to prevent EGT overlimit events. It also reminds us of what to do in the case of an EGT overlimit indication at takeoff.

Landing with Nosewheels at 90 degrees

January 2022

In the past few years, several events occurred involving landing with the Nose Landing Gear (NLG) wheels turned to 90° from the aircraft centerline.
The investigations identified the root causes, which were different for each event. Mitigating actions were developed and deployed accordingly.
This article describes the outcomes of investigations into several events of aircraft landing with NLG wheels at 90° and shows why they are not related. It also recalls the corrective actions and existing operational recommendations to prevent any recurrence.

Lining Up with the Correct Glide Slope

December 2021

The Instrument Landing System (ILS) is accurate and reliable, but the ILS antenna design today causes secondary glide slopes to appear above the primary glide slope. Flight crews must be aware of this phenomenon to prevent unwanted aircraft behavior during an ILS glide slope capture.
This article explains the phenomenon of secondary glide slopes and their effect on aircraft systems. It provides guidance and examples that show how flight crews can prevent capturing a secondary glide slope. It also describes the protections on Airbus aircraft that limit the effect of an unintended secondary glide slope capture on the aircraft trajectory.

Training Pilots for Resilience

October 2021

Resilience training is not a new concept in aviation. It was introduced in mandatory Crew Resource Management (CRM) training for pilots a few years ago. Resilience is built on a pilot’s confidence and competencies. But what if they did not fly for many weeks or months?
With many aircraft returning to service following the massive fleet grounding our industry has faced as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, it is a good time to highlight the importance of resilience training.

Safe Handling of TCAS Alerts

September 2021

TCAS RAs are not correctly followed in more than 40% of cases according to a recent study published by Eurocontrol, making non-compliance with TCAS RAs one of the top 5 Air Traffic Management (ATM) operational and safety risks.
This article explains how the TCAS Alert Prevention (TCAP) and AP/FD TCAS functions can improve the situation by respectively reducing the number of RAs in congested airspace, and assisting flight crews to follow TCAS RAs in an optimum manner. The article also recalls the TCAS warning procedure step-by-step, with and without the AP/FD TCAS function and provides guidance for training flight crews.

Take Care of the Wheel Tie Bolts

April 2021

A significant number of missing wheel tie bolts have been reported to Airbus over the last 5 years. A few of these reports have described significant damage to the wheel or brakes.
Carefully checking the condition of the wheel tie bolts during aircraft walkarounds can allow detection of missing or damaged bolts and help to prevent serious incidents in service or during maintenance. Strictly observing the preventive maintenance practices, including planned inspection intervals, ensure that any damaged wheel tie bolts are replaced before they are at risk of failing.

News: A Statistical Analysis of Commercial Aviation Accidents 1958-2020

April 2021

The latest Statistical Analysis of Commercial Aviation Accidents is available and updated with 2020 figures. In a year that saw half the number of flights of the previous year, there were still three fatal accidents and six hull losses. The industry fatal accident and hull loss rates are steadily decreasing over time, but this trend faces a unique challenge due to the many aircraft grounded at the peak of the pandemic in 2020. From a safety perspective, this scenario requires all actors to be focused on the right priorities, which is to ensure safety as more aircraft, crews, and passengers return to the skies.

Unreliable Airspeed at Takeoff

March 2021

Since the beginning of 2020, Airbus has received an increasing number of reports of unreliable airspeed events at takeoff due to Pitot probe obstruction. Despite the existing prevention means and the preflight exterior walkaround, takeoffs with obstructed air data probes may happen. This article highlights why it is so important for pilots to actively monitor the airspeed during the entire takeoff roll, to detect an airspeed discrepancy as early as possible, and safely reject the takeoff, if required to do so.

A Focus on the Takeoff Rotation

January 2021

An appropriate takeoff rotation maneuver is a balance between good takeoff performance and sufficient margin versus tail strike, stall speed, and minimum control speeds.
Applying the 3°/s rotation rate requested in the SOPs is the key to ensure that the aircraft meets the expected takeoff performance. Flight data monitoring shows that the rotation rate values in service vary and a lower rotation rate is observed in some cases with the associated degradation of takeoff performance. This article describes both the takeoff rotation laws available on Airbus Fly-by-Wire (FBW) aircraft and the recommended rotation techniques that will enable flight crew to achieve consistent takeoff rotations at the requested rotation rate.

Attention Crew at Stations

December 2020

An emergency evacuation is always a stressful situation for passengers, cabin crews, and flight crews. Decisions have to be made rapidly and if the communication between the cabin and cockpit is not clear, or the evacuation is delayed by passengers trying to take their personal belongings, these can have critical consequences on the outcome.
From the preflight briefing until the safe evacuation of all aircraft occupants, this article provides recommendations for both flight crew and cabin crew to ensure a safe and efficient emergency evacuation is performed.

Prevention of Unstable Approaches

October 2020

Unstable approach has been a problem since the very beginning of commercial aviation. Even so, it is still one of the most common contributing factors to many of the incidents and accidents that occur on landing today. Regardless of the changes or cycles our industry faces, this article is a timeless reminder for the importance of efficient preparation for approach including anticipation of late changes, and the need for cooperation between flight crews and air traffic controllers. The article also provides tips to detect a potential unstable approach in advance so that it can be corrected long before the stabilization height. Respecting stabilized approach criteria is also highlighted as well as being go-around minded in the case of late destabilization.

Mind the OEBs

July 2020

Operations Engineering Bulletins (OEBs) are temporary procedures published for flight crews. They must be applied only in specific conditions to ensure safe and efficient operations of the aircraft.
This article explains why OEBs are issued, the importance of communicating them to flight crews as soon as possible, and the importance for flight crews to comply with the OEB procedures. This article also stresses the importance of applying the available modifications that will cancel an OEB as soon as possible. Airbus provides support to Operators to assess and prioritize the implementation of service bulletin modifications that can remove applicable OEBs from their fleets.

Preparing for a Safe Return to the Skies

June 2020

Aircraft that were parked or stored due to the impacts of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis are progressively returning to the skies. It is in this context that Airbus has already received several reports of rejected takeoff (RTO) and in-flight turn back (IFTB) events due to unreliable airspeed. All of these events had positive outcomes thanks to the actions of the flight crews. It does however illustrate the challenges for returning aircraft to flying, after they are parked or stored, and if the maintenance procedures are not followed in all cases.
This is why we take this opportunity to share all of the available Airbus information and industry guidelines that can support Operators to ensure their safe return to the skies.

Safe Aircraft Parking

January 2020

Incorrect or incomplete application of the parking procedures at the end of a flight can lead to unexpected aircraft movement potentially resulting in injuries or significant damage from a collision with ground obstacles. Several cases of this type of event during maintenance are reported to Airbus each year.This article provides an overview of the parking brake architecture and explains the importance of checking accumulator pressure before applying the park brake, and then confirming there is sufficient hydraulic pressure at the brake unit. It also describes the safety enhancement available on A320 family and A330/A340 aircraft and gives recommendations for chock design and placement.

Managing Severe Turbulence

November 2019

Severe turbulence encounters may cause injuries to passengers and cabin crew. If turbulence is unavoidable, using best practices, applying recommended techniques and following procedures will help to reduce the risk of injuries.This article is about turbulence encounters, their risks and tips for how to avoid them. It provides references and links to the relevant publications. It also highlights how communication between the flight crew and cabin crew can be most effective to manage the risks and recalls procedures and best practices to apply in the case of severe turbulence. 

Takeoff Surveillance & Monitoring Functions

October 2019

Airbus has continuously improved takeoff safety since the “TO CONFIG TEST” pushbutton was first introduced on A300 and A310 aircraft, and with the development of the Takeoff Surveillance (TOS1 & TOS2) and Takeoff Monitoring (TOM) functions.The TOS2 package that was initially developed for the A350 is now available for A320 family and A330 aircraft. This is an opportunity to review the checks that are performed by each function, from cockpit preparation to takeoff. 

GNSS Interference

September 2019

Signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) are one of the main inputs used for aircraft positioning or time reference for Communication, Navigation and Surveillance functions on-board most of the Airbus aircraft.
Operators report an increasing number of events related to the loss of GNSS signals due to Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) during operations in some areas of the world.
This article explains the causes of RFI, the effects on the aircraft systems and provides recommendations for flight and maintenance crews.  

Overspeed Event with Crew Take-over and OEB49 Application

June 2019

While flying at FL380, an A340 aircraft encountered a strong and abrupt tailwind decrease that triggered significant MMO overshoot and overspeed warning.The crew disconnected the AP, took over and inappropriately applied OEB49 (ADR2 & ADR3 set to OFF).This article describes this event and presents two main aspects from its analysis: the management of an overspeed situation and the inappropriate OEB49 application.It details the rationale for the OEB49 (on A330/A340 aircraft) and OEB48 (on A320 family) and their conditions of application. It explains why they must not be trained on simulator and recalls the aircraft modifications allowing to cancel the OEB.

Management of Overspeed Events in Cruise

June 2019

Modern aircraft operate at high altitude and close to their high speed limits. As a consequence, temporary overspeed events can occur in cruise in changing wind conditions.Analysis of in-service data shows the need to remind the appropriate techniques to manage such temporary overspeed and avoid potential significant trajectory deviation.This article therefore recalls the aircraft capabilities to cope with overspeed and the recommended techniques to safely prevent and manage overspeed conditions in cruise.

Engine Thrust Management - Thrust Setting at Takeoff

December 2018

The FCOM Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) provide specific guidance to flight crews for thrust application at takeoff.This article explains why 2-step thrust application is required at takeoff and why some extra steps should be taken in tailwind or significant crosswind conditions. It also provides recommendations to ensure optimum lateral control of the aircraft during takeoff roll and how to react if an asymmetric event is experienced at low speed.

Preventing Violent Door Opening due to Residual Cabin Pressure

October 2018

Thousands of aircraft doors are opened daily, usually without incident. However, several events are reported to Airbus each year where residual cabin pressure caused a door to open violently, leading to serious injuries or aircraft damage. This article describes the available residual cabin pressure warnings, with their limitations. It recalls the recommendations for flight crew, cabin crew, and ground staff to take before opening an aircraft door and provides the safety precautions to take to avoid unintentional pressurization of the aircraft on ground.

Using Aircraft as a Sensor on Contaminated Runways

July 2018

In any analysis of aviation accidents, Runway Excursions (RE) are usually identified as the top cause of aircraft hull losses. Many of these accidents occur on runways where braking performance is degraded by runway surface contaminants.Airbus and its subsidiary NAVBLUE have developed a new technology to use the aircraft itself as a sensor to measure the available runway braking action, and subsequently share that data to the benefit of oncoming traffic.

Thrust Reverser Deployment In-flight

July 2018

Thrust reverser partial deployment in-flight events have been reported to Airbus which have had both a maintenance and an operational contribution.
This article describes a typical event, and provides a reminder of the recommended actions for the flight crew when an alert related to the thrust reversers is triggered at the gate or during taxi-out. It also provides maintenance recommendations to ensure correct thrust reverser de-activation task accomplishment.

High Load Event Reporting

March 2018

All aircraft are designed, tested and certified to avoid the possibility of exceeding its structural strength. Operational thresholds or limits define the envelope for the load conditions in normal operations, and there are design margins to cope with abnormal or excessive loads on the aircraft if they are experienced in-flight or on the ground.  The Pilot’s report of high load events in the logbook is the starting point to commence an evaluation of the event to determine if the abnormal load has affected the structure or systems of the aircraft. Early reporting enables efficient evaluation of the event by maintenance personnel and it can allow the aircraft to more rapidly return to service when the required maintenance tasks are completed.

Progress to Pinpoint an Aircraft's Position

July 2017

There are currently around 33 million commercial flights a year and this figure is expected to double in the next 15 years. An aircraft arriving safely at its destination, and within a predictable time, is an expectation of both its crew and passengers. A growing number of apps are also available to the public that show an aircraft’s journey from departure to arrival, even providing seemingly real-time data for an aircraft’s speed, altitude and heading. With the technological leaps that have provided all of this information to hand and visible on our smart phones, it is not unreasonable for members of the public and media to ask, “How can we lose track of a large aircraft flying today?”

Troubleshooting Airframe Vibrations

July 2017

As moveable structural components such as control surfaces and landing gear doors age, wear of hinges and actuators can sometimes lead to airframe vibrations. These vibrations can cause noise and physical discomfort in the passenger cabin.To prevent further deterioration of components, the cause of vibration should be quickly identified and removed. For this, maintenance personnel require Flight Crew to make observations of the vibration using a Vibration Reporting Sheet (VRS).A clear understanding of how to complete the VRS is important before starting the observations. Some parts of the VRS require manual control inputs with Autopilot OFF and therefore cannot be performed in RVSM airspace.

Control your Speed... During Descent, Approach and Landing

July 2017

This article is the conclusion of our theme of speed management during a flight, which began in Safety first Issue #18. We are entering into the descent phase. Our objective is to cover descent from cruise altitude down toward the destination airport and prepare the aircraft for its approach and landing.This article aims to highlight how the reference, limit and operating speeds are useful during descent, approach and landing. It also provides a description of the tools that are available and operational recommendations on how to manage the aircraft energy during the last phases of flight.

Introduction to the Soft Go-Around Function

January 2017

The “all engines” go-around is a very dynamic procedure with high accelerations created by the application of TOGA thrust. Yet in-service experience has shown that as long as both engines are operating, a lower thrust can still be sufficient to perform a safe go-around.As a safety enhancement, Airbus has introduced the Soft Go-Around (SGA) function, which provides a reduced go-around thrust and associated operating procedures. This article will review how the Soft Go-Around function works, how it is activated, on which aircraft it is installed, and how to deal with a “mixed” fleet composed of aircraft with and without the function.

Safely Flying Non-Precision Instrument Approaches

January 2017

Historically the distinction between flying ILS/MLS and non-precision approaches was very clear. However, many new kinds of instrument approaches are now available and this makes the distinction less obvious. What remains true today for any approach is that disregarding basic flying techniques and procedures reduces safety margins.This article clarifies which technologies are available to perform approaches using an Airbus aircraft. It also emphasises the safety messages that are important to remember whenever flying an approach.

Preparing Flight Crews to Face Unexpected Events

January 2017

During an approach at night-time into Glasgow Airport, the crew of an easyJet A319 experienced a strong cross-wind and turbulent conditions, which created a WINDSHEAR alert and led them to perform a go-around.As they did this, PFD information including Flight Modes Annunciator, Flight Director bars, and characteristic speeds all disappeared from both PFDs. In addition, the rudder travel limiter function became unavailable, and the auto-thrust disconnected. The crew was facing a very challenging situation, and needed to use their training in back-to-basics flying and efficient Crew Resource Management.

Flying a Go-Around Managing Energy

January 2014

Airbus recently performed some research on the quality of go-around execution. This involved examining nearly 500,000 approaches flown by many airlines from around the world.The results highlighted that in some cases crews are choosing not to apply the Airbus Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the go-around phase.Particularly when a go-around was performed above 1,200 ft, the flight crew often decided to adapt the engines thrust selection instead of setting TOGA thrust. Feedback from operators also indicates a similar tendency. As a result, Airbus received several reports of unexpected aircraft trajectories and energy management techniques during the go-around procedure.Therefore, it was decided to address these issues by:Better defining an optional thrust levers management tech-nique during the a go-around, as per Airbus SOP.Developing a “Discontinued Approach” technique that wouldallow crews to effectively “abort” the approach without selecting TOGA detent.The Flight Crew Training Manual (FCTM) and the Flight Crew Operating Manual (FCOM) were updated accordingly end 2013 (updates respectively in March and May 2014 for the A300/A310 and A380).

Hard Landing, a Case Study for Crews and Maintenance Personnel

January 2014

In this article, Airbus would like to take you through a case study and use it to learn some lessons and share our safety first culture. The article is split into three distinct parts:The first will describe the eventThe second, targeted at flight crews, will discuss and develop the stabilization criteria and present a prevention strategy against unstable approaches. It will also insist on the need to use the appropriate level of automation at all times.The third part, targeted at maintenance personnel, will illustrate the need to always use the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) as the source document for maintenance operations.

Airbus Brake Testing

January 2014

Regulatory aircraft performance is certified as a set of performance models and aircraft physical characteristics that are built and validated from flight test data. While the primary purpose of these models has always been to allow computation of aircraft performance for dispatch, the models used to determine the in-flight landing distances during approach preparation are derived from the same testing. Part of this model, affecting both the accelerate-stop computation at take-off and the landing distance computation, are the characteristics of the braking system installed on the aircraft.This article explains which flight tests are involved in the identification of the system characteristics and how they are conducted.