Incident Overview
On 16 February 2016, an Airbus A320-214 (registration G-EZTZ) operating a scheduled commercial passenger flight experienced an inadvertent flap retraction shortly after takeoff from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The aircraft had six crew and 167 passengers on board; no injuries or damage were reported.
Flight History
The co-pilot was the Pilot Flying (PF). After a normal takeoff, the PF requested the Pilot Monitoring (PM) to select the landing gear up. However, the PM moved the flap lever to position 0 instead of the landing gear lever. Realizing the error immediately, the PM returned the flap lever to position 1 and informed the PF. The PF reduced the aircraft's nose attitude, maintained a positive climb rate, and the airspeed did not drop below VLS (the lowest selectable indicated airspeed). The flight continued to its destination without further issues.
Flap System Logic
The aircraft departed with flaps and slats in Config 1+F (18° of slats, 10° of flaps). When the flap lever was moved to position 0, the flaps began to retract, while the slats initially remained at position 1. Since the PM quickly moved the lever back to position 1, the slats stayed extended. In flight, moving the flap lever from 0 to 1 normally commands slat extension without flap extension (Config 1), but in this case, the flaps continued to retract due to the sequence.
Human Factors
The operator classified the mis-selection as an 'action slip', where the intended correct action was replaced by a different, habitual action. The report noted that highly practiced, routine physical tasks are more susceptible to such slips. The operator acknowledged that this was not an isolated event, indicating a general vulnerability among flight crews.