What happened
On 5 April 2022, an Air France Boeing 777-300ER, registered F-GSQJ, was performing a scheduled flight from New York John F. Kennedy International to Paris-Charles de Gaulle. While executing an ILS approach to runway 26L in low visibility, the pilot flying (PF) disengaged the autopilot to fly the aircraft manually. During this phase, the PF noticed an unusual bank angle, prompting the crew to initiate a missed approach.
As the crew transitioned to the go-around procedure, the pilot flying applied pitch and roll inputs while the pilot monitoring (PM) simultaneously applied opposing forces on the controls. This simultaneous input caused the pitch controls to desynchronize for 12 seconds and resulted in brief episodes of roll control desynchronization. During this period, the aircraft experienced a significant increase in pitch rate and a bank angle reaching 16 degrees. The crew eventually stabilized the flight path and completed a subsequent approach to runway 27R without further incident.
The investigation
The BEA examined flight recorder data (CVR and FDR), radar data, and crew statements to reconstruct the sequence of events. The investigation focused on the mechanics of the aircraft's flight control system, specifically how the control columns and wheels interact when opposing forces are applied. Investigators analyzed the movement of the control wheels, the activation of the breakout mechanisms, and the crew's communication during the high-workload missed approach.
Findings
- The primary cause of the flight path deviations was the simultaneous application of opposing control inputs by both pilots during the go-around.
- The aircraft's mechanical design allows for a breakout mechanism; however, when the two pilots applied antagonistic forces, the pitch and roll controls became desynchronized.
- There were no visual or aural cockpit indications to alert the crew that both pilots were actively inputting conflicting commands.
- The crew's ability to recover the flight path was aided by the use of standardized call-outs, which re-established a clear division of tasks between the pilot flying and the pilot monitoring.