2022-05 · NASA ASRS report 1900688
A321 flight crew reported communications issues led to a go around and descent below minimum vectoring altitude during approach phase of flight.
I was the FO (First Officer)/PM (Pilot Monitoring) for this leg. This was our first leg of the sequence. I had never flown with this CA (Captain) prior to this sequence; but was comfortable and we worked well together. Conditions were Day VMC with Moderate turbulence and tailwinds on final until about 7-8 miles on final. This was my first time ever into ZZZ since my 727/FE IOE. I had discussed this with the CA enroute; but after studying the Jeppesen pages; the arrival and approach seemed fairly straightforward; with the big remaining threat for me being the terrain of the Mountains and surrounding both sides of the arrival corridor. We had initially planned and briefed the ILS XX as the CA had previously flown that approach the last time he had been to ZZZ. During descent on the arrival; Center told us to expect the ILS XYR and told us to expect moderate turbulence for most of the way down into the terminal area. The CA had the FAs (Flight Attendants) complete their service and prepare for landing and turbulence procedures. We began to encounter moderate turbulence descending through FL220 as we were completing loading and briefing the new approach to XYR and running checklists. We both seemed to feel comfortable with the new runway and briefing. As we descended on the arrival; Approach Control notified us that multiple previous aircraft had experienced 5-10 kt. gains and losses on final approach. Once crossing the Mountains and overhead ZZZ1 Airport; the turbulence somewhat subsided and we now had a 15-20+ kt. tailwind pushing toward ZZZ. Around ZZZZZ fix; we called the airport 'in sight' and were cleared to 'Cross ZZZZZ1 at or above 9000 ft.; cleared the Visual Approach to XYR.' The PF (Pilot Flying) was attempting to slow the aircraft to configure; but the tailwind and high Pressure Altitude were not helping us out. We intercepted the GS and began descending again; making it difficult to slow. We checked in with Tower and they cleared us to land; and again mentioned the 5-10 kt. gain and loss from previous aircraft. Inside ZZZZZ1; the PF stated he was going to disconnect the autopilot and descend below the glide path and level off to slow and configure. At this point; I began turning off the automation (Flight Directors; and HDG/VS to ZZZ2); turning my attention back and forth to the airspeed indicator watching for 250 kts so we could lower the gear. All the while remembering my concern of unfamiliarity with this airport and terrain. As PF began leveling off at around 6100 ft. and began to slow; Tower stated something to the effect of '... would you like an S-turn to the East (to help us slow and configure)?' PF stated yes and I told Tower; who cleared us to S-turn to the East. As PF started the turn (which was toward the West); he stated to me something to the effect of 'we're probably just going to go around out of this one.' I had already begun thinking of the possibility of a go around; as I didn't think we were going to be able to meet stable approach criteria; so when PF said that; I immediately began thinking of how we would execute that; on top of getting turned back toward final; letting Tower know; setting MA altitude; turning automation back on; etc. (Of course; all of this was happening in my mind very quickly. Regarding the turn; and although I read back the clearance to turn to the east; I can't remember thinking we were turning the wrong way... as I specifically remember thinking that we were turning away from the Mountains terrain; which was good. I know now that I was entirely task saturated with simply Aviating) At what seemed like the same instant the PF was turning back toward the approach course; Tower told us to turn back immediately. I can't remember if they used a cardinal direction or simply 'right;' but we were told to turn. At this point; PF called for the Go Around and we executed it; were given a heading; altitude; and airspeed from Tower to fly and sent back to Approach Control where we were cleared the visual to [Runway] XYL which we backed up with the ILS. Approach and landing were uneventful.There were many causal factors for this event. As I have been formulating this narrative; I can see the Threat and Error Management model and the lines going through the 'Swiss cheese.' The first factor was me. Human error. My lack of knowledge of the airport and environmental conditions (terrain; weather patterns; etc.) played a part. Even though we discussed as a crew; I didn't know what I didn't know. so didn't ask the proper questions of the PF who had been there before. My duties of PM. Monitoring. looking back on the situation; I kept letting myself get 'task loaded' with one little 'non standard' input after another; trying to take care of each item.. all the while getting quickly closer and closer to the field and unable to configure. While not as big as a factor; Automation Management played some part; as we had initially coupled the approach to Glide slope and then turned it off and I had to help set everything up for a hand flown approach. Communication - though Tower cleared and I read back 'S-turn to East;' there was obviously some miscommunication between sender and receiver.; Though not a large factor; the runway change from XX to XYR took away from our focus somewhat.; Task Saturation - I know this was my biggest causal factor. Once the Go Around was completed; I remember feeling a huge 'weight' being lifted; or like I 'came to' from a fog. I realized then that I had allowed myself to become overly task saturated and was just working in survival mode trying to give the PF what he needed/asked for; while monitoring the aircraft and keeping it from terrain (vertical and lateral). The Airport Conditions -Weather; or the strong tailwind on final; made it nearly impossible to fly the approach in the 'standard' way we normally fly. I don't feel like the PF or I understood by what the Controllers had said that the tailwind would be that bad or affect us in that way.; Loss of Situation Awareness-this is the main reason I am typing this right now. Due to all of the other factors mentioned; I lost situational awareness and; although I read back 'S-turn to East;' I was so saturated I didn't even think to monitor and verify which direction east was. I just knew I was turning away from some big terrain and it felt right.In a 'perfect world;' the ATIS for ZZZ would have had a better description of what was occurring on approach... as we found out later; that many aircraft had been going around that day. That is much different than letting us know there's a 5-10 kt. gain or loss. So; I would say #1.. be more descriptive and 'plain English' explanation on ATIS. #2-I would like to have seen a '19-' Overview and Overview Weather page for ZZZ. Again; I had never been there. The PF had; but had never had any issues; so had nothing to say about how ZZZ was anything special.; An Overview page(s) would help visualize the approach corridors and weather patterns specific/unusual to ZZZ. #3-This scenario would be a good simulator scenario if anyone could find time to put it into a syllabus. There were so many factors; some insidious; that there would be a lot of good learning points.; #4-Possibly change the way Controllers provide clearance instructions- especially during high-stress events. Had the Tower Controller told us to 'S-Turn to the RIGHT;' I don't think we would have turned the wrong way. (I am not denying my culpability; merely saying that would have been better for PF/PM in this situation).
I was the Pilot Flying and was cleared for the visual XYR ZZZ maintaining 9000 MSL till ZZZZZ1. Level at 9000 MSL and several miles to ZZZZZ1 attempted to slow aircraft from 250 IAS to begin landing configuration. There was a 20+ kt. tailwind on final with light to moderate turbulence. Aircraft did not slow to allow configuration and descent was initiated at ZZZZZ1 on glide path with autopilot on. I deselected autopilot and descended to around 6;000 ft. to get aircraft to slow to configure. Around [the] tower issued maneuvering airspace to the east to help in slowing the aircraft. I turned the aircraft to the west believing that was the east direction. Several seconds later Tower issued traffic alert and to maneuver right which I complied with due to traffic landing on XYL. Never received a TA/RA from my aircraft. I decided to go around unable to meet stable approach criteria. ATC vectored me around for an uneventful visual landing on XYL. The following are two causal factors that contributed to the event:Just like we do with weather avoidance at cruise to help a tense tasked saturated event Tower should issue clear to maneuver 'right or left' to help reduce errors. I initially believed I was turning East in a task saturated event hand flying the aircraft. I had departed ZZZ1 to the south and not sure if that had a bearing on my situation awareness on direction. I was narrowly focused on getting the aircraft slowed to begin configuration. Approach had warned of 5 to 10 kt. airspeed fluctuations on final from previous aircraft but that did not match actual conditions. After talking to Tower on the phone he had mentioned multiple aircraft had executed go arounds due to constantly changing wind conditions on approach. This information should be relayed to give a better picture of conditions especially on what appeared to be clear skies visual approach landings. The initial perception of conditions did not match reality added to being backed into a corner and unable to configure the aircraft in time for landing. As mentioned above; having Tower issue left/right directions could have stopped me from turning in the wrong direction. Also having been notified on what other pilots experienced or had to do would have built a bigger picture on actual conditions and the reality of the weather and flight conditions to be better prepared.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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