Background
On 28 January 2019, Orange2fly operated a chartered ACMI flight (OMS 104) on behalf of Salam Air from Dubai International Airport to Muscat International Airport, Oman. The aircraft involved was an Airbus A320-232, registration SX-ODS, owned by Aercap and manufactured by Airbus SAS in France.
Incident Sequence
The flight departed Dubai at 18:34 UTC. The captain (CM1) was the pilot monitoring (PM), and the first officer (CM2) was the pilot flying (PF). The aircraft was cleared for an instrument approach to runway 26R under radar guidance. During the initial approach, flaps were set to position 1. At 2,260 feet indicated altitude with an indicated airspeed of 186 knots, the captain disengaged the autopilot and took manual control.
While executing a right turn at 1,840 feet to align with the runway, the captain selected idle thrust, which caused the autothrust to disengage. Subsequently, the captain relinquished control to the first officer. With autothrust disconnected, the aircraft's speed continued to decrease. At 290 feet (256 feet radio altitude) and 116 knots indicated airspeed, the engines automatically advanced to TOGA (Takeoff/Go-Around) thrust as the alpha floor protection activated. The minimum recorded altitude during this event was 210 feet.
The captain then resumed control and landed the aircraft normally at 19:11 UTC.
Investigation
The Hellenic Air Accident Investigation and Safety Board (HAAISB) was notified of the incident on 28 March 2019 via the operator's internal report and classified it as a serious incident. Communication with Oman, the state of occurrence, began in April 2019. Oman notified HAAISB on 28 May 2019 that it would not investigate due to insufficient evidence. The investigation was conducted by HAAISB in accordance with ICAO Annex 13, EU Regulation 996/2010, and Greek Law 2912/2001. France, as the state of design and manufacture, appointed an accredited representative.
Findings
The investigation determined that during the approach, the captain's selection of idle thrust led to the disconnection of autothrust, resulting in a deceleration that triggered the alpha floor protection. The aircraft was not damaged, and no injuries were reported among the occupants.