ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 370276
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| Date: | Monday 23 October 2006 |
| Time: | 14:00 LT |
| Type: |  Airbus A319-111 |
| Owner/operator: | Frontier Airlines |
| Registration: | N924FR |
| MSN: | 2030 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2003 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 10544 hours |
| Engine model: | General Electric CFM56-5B5/P |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 136 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Denver International Airport, CO (DEN/KDEN) -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX/KLAX) |
| Denver International Airport, CO (DEN/KDEN) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
During the landing flare approximately 10 feet above ground level, the aircraft pitched nose down while the captain applied aft sidestick force. The rate that the nose descended seemed to be commanded and extremely smooth. The first officer wondered if he could have accidentally bumped his sidestick, but he did not think that action occurred. The captain landed the airplane with the main landing gear touching down first, and the captain's sidestick was once again responsive. The entire event took no longer than 2 seconds. No electronic centralized aircraft monitor (ECAM) warnings or other indications were noticed by the flight crew. Review of the digital flight data recorder (DFDR) data revealed that the captain's sidestick (left) was inoperative for approximately 1 second during the landing flare. During that time, the first officer's sidestick (right) pitch was in the neutral position. Less than one second after the captain's sidestick went to inoperative, both sidestick pitch positions went to approximately 14-16 degrees aft. Pitch data revealed a decrease in pitch of approximately 2 degrees during the event. The airframe manufacturer provided the following analysis of the incident: "Captain was Pilot Flying (PF). First officer was Pilot Non Flying (PNF). Manual approach and flare input from the PF were nominal. But, it appeared that [the] PNF take-over and priority pushbutton was pushed inadvertently for approximately 1 to 2 seconds during flare. As a warning, white arrow pointing to the right was displayed in front of captain (PF) and F/O (first officer) green light was lit in front of F/O (PNF). With the F/O priority button pressed, EFCS (Electrical Flight Control System) disregarded the captain inputs to the benefit of the F/O one. During this time, as no order (neutral) was applied on F/O sidestick, aircraft elevators returned to neutral position, leading pitch attitude to be reduced by 1.5 degrees. EFCS switched back to captain sidestick when priority switch was released, and captain resumed flare and landing uneventfully." According to operator, the non-flying pilot's hand should not be on the sidestick during critical phases of flight, such as the landing flare; however, the non-flying pilot should be in a position to takeover control, if required.
Probable Cause: The inadvertent activation of the priority pushbutton on the sidestick by the first officer resulting in a nose down pitch and loss of aircraft control during the landing flare.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB DEN07IA027
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 14 November 2009 | N924FR | Frontier Airlines | 0 | Kansas City International Airport, MO (MCI/KMCI) | |
min |
| Bird strike | ||||||
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Mar-2024 08:56 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
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