Date:	Tuesday 16 February 2016
Time:	08:25
Type:	Airbus A320-214
Owner/operator:	EasyJet
Registration:	G-EZTZ
MSN:	4556
Year of manufacture:	2010
Engine model:	CFMI CFM56-5B4/P
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 173
Aircraft damage:	Minor
Category:	Incident
Location:	Amsterdam Airport, Schiphol, Amsterdam (AMS/EDAM) -   Netherlands
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Mühlhausen Merseburg Airfield (EDAM)
Destination airport:
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Airbus A320-214 G-EZTZ experienced an early flap retraction (instead of landing gear) after takeoff from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, 16 February 2016.

G-EZTZ was operating a scheduled Commercial Air Transport (CAT) flight with six crew and 167 passengers on board. The co-pilot was the Pilot Flying (PF). The crew reported that the takeoff was normal but when, after lift-off, the PF (Pilot Flying) asked the Pilot Monitoring (PM) to select the landing gear to up, he moved the flap lever to position 0 instead. The PM realised his error immediately, returned the lever to position 1 and told the PF what he had done.

The PF reduced the nose attitude of the aircraft, maintained a positive rate of climb and the airspeed did not decrease below VLS (the lowest selectable IAS). The aircraft continued to its destination without further incident."

=Flap system logic=
The departure was flown with flaps and slats set to Config 1 + F (18° of slats and 10° of flaps). After takeoff, when the flap lever was moved to position 0, the flaps began to retract but the slats remained in position 1 initially. The slats would have retracted subsequently but, because the PM immediately moved the flap lever back to position 1, they remained extended.

In flight, moving the flap lever from position 0 to 1 extends the slats but does not normally extend the flaps i.e., Config 1 is commanded rather than Config 1 + F. In this case, although the PM moved the flap lever back to position 1, the flaps continued to retract.

=Human factors=
The operator classified the mis-selection of flap rather than landing gear as an ‘action slip’. The PM intended to carry out the correct action but, during the execution phase, did something different. The report stated:

‘Tasks which are highly practiced, routine and largely physical actions are more vulnerable to action slips than more cognitively demanding tasks. These well-practiced tasks are linked with automatic processing where [we can do the task] ‘without thinking’. Our ability … to automate our processing [allows] us to develop expertise and create the cognitive capacity to process more complex tasks. However, it can also leave us vulnerable to making errors in relatively simple tasks.

The operator noted that this was not an isolated event, which confirmed that flight crew, in general, are vulnerable to this type of slip.

1. AAIB Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/578defbae5274a0da900011c/Airbus_A320-214_G-EZTZ_08-16.pdf

This Airbus A320-214 was first UK registered as G-EZTZ (from new) on 12 January 2011, and was delivered to easyJet at London Luton Airport (the one and only owner as at May 2024). As at 12 April 2024, G-EZTZ had accumulated a total of 38,482 flying hours on the airframe

G-EZTZ EasyJet Airbus A320-214 at Manchester Airport (MAN/EGCC) 27 August 2015:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-May-2024 06:54	Dr. John Smith	Added
09-May-2024 06:56	ASN	Updated [Source, Narrative, Accident report]