by Leonard Berberi
The Boeing 777300ER on the New YorkParis flight had problems landing. The pilots had to abort the maneuver and try again. Experts analyze the black boxes
The pilots of an Air France Boeing 777300ER lost control of the plane for a few seconds as they were preparing to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, and to do this they also had to abort the descent, bypass the stop and land on a later time. The fact that occurred on the morning of April 5th was confirmed to Corriere della Sera by the airline and by Bea, the French Office for Studies and Analysis of Civil Aviation Safety. The commander and first officer’s audio shows the difficulties faced in those moments.
The flight
Air France’s Boeing 777300ER, which had been in service for 17 years, operated flight AF11 and had taken off from New York’s “JFK” airport the night before, April 4. It is unclear how many passengers were on board and the company has not made this clear. As they approached ParisCharles de Gaulle, the pilots began having trouble controlling the plane. The conversations were recorded by enthusiasts around the airport and confirmed to the courier by the experts.
The method
“Hello, Air France Flight AF11, here you go to runway 26 left,” says one of the pilots at the Charles de Gaulle control tower in the recording. “Air France AR11 Good morning, you are authorized to land on runway 26 on the left, replies the air traffic controller assigned to control the aircraft. “Can you confirm that we are authorized to land on runway 26 left?” asks the pilot. “I confirm, Air France AF11,” they reply from the tower. So far everything has been normal, but a few moments later the pilots can be heard grimacing, then let out a scream while the alarm sounds in the background: the Boeing does not respond to commands. “Stop, stop! says the pilot.
The emergency
The noise and excited voice alert the tower. “Air France 11?” they ask from the ground. “I’ll call you back,” says the pilot. “Air France stops the approach at 1,500 feet (457 meters, editor’s note) immediately,” is the command coming from the tower. “Ok, we’ll stop at 1500,” they answer from the cabin. But the alarm still sounds, then other audible warnings are added while the pilot continues to force a maneuver not clear from the tone in type. “Here AF11, let’s go around, wait for 4000 feet, we’ll call you back,” it says from the plane.
The second try
After a few seconds and while the Boeing prepares for another landing manoeuvre, the tower is again contacted by the cabin. “We were driving around due to flight control problems. The plane didn’t respond,” explains the pilot. «We are ready to continue the descent with the radar displays. Give us time to manage the situation and then lead us by giving us a tailwind ». “Ok AF11, I noticed that the plane on the radar is deviating to the left of him,” they explain from the tower. “Would you like to go back to runway 26 left?” “We would prefer the right runway 27,” replies the pilot. The plane lands at 9:31 a.m. with no further problems.
The investigations
What happened? A spokesman for the “Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de Aviation Civile” (Bea) the transalpine investigative agency and one of the most progressive in the world told Corriere that the experts analyzed the data from the plane’s two flight recorders. One records the cabin audio (Cockpit Voice Recorder, Cvr), the other stores all flight parameters (Flight Data Recorder, Fdr). But, the spokesman continues, it’s still early to understand whether an investigation into the incident will be launched.
The replica
“Air France confirms that flight AF11’s crew aborted the landing and had to perform a goaround due to a technical problem during the descent,” a company spokesman said. “The crew coped with the situation and the plane landed normally after a second attempt ». The transalpine airline says it “regrets the inconvenience caused to travelers” and recalls that “crews are trained and regularly briefed on these procedures applied by all airlines to ensure the safety of flights and passengers.
April 5, 2022 (change April 5, 2022 | 21:04)
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