B737 flight crew reported an unstable approach at night with no vertical or ground guidance resulting in an unusual attitude situation. Flight crew regained aircraft control with upset recovery procedures.
Synopsis
B737 flight crew reported an unstable approach at night with no vertical or ground guidance resulting in an unusual attitude situation. Flight crew regained aircraft control with upset recovery procedures.
Narrative
At approximately 25 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of Aircraft X ZZZZ1-ZZZZ; I initiated contact with the Dispatcher in an effort to accommodate more payload without adjusting the fuel that had already been loaded on the aircraft. The Dispatcher was able to accommodate approximately 600 pounds more fuel. The flight departed ZZZZ1 approximately 30 minutes late due to passenger and loading complications. The flight departed and climbed to the cruising altitude uneventfully. The FO and I had already discussed the possibility of an overweight landing in ZZZZ and were actively monitoring fuel burn/ weight of the aircraft to ensure a landing under the structural limit. Upon reaching the cruising altitude of FL310; I applied speed brakes to increase the fuel burn to ensure we would not land over weight. I had the First Officer (FO) request our cruise clearance to ZZZZ via CPDLC with ZZZ [Center] shortly after reaching our cruise altitude since we had not received it yet and our cruise segment of the flight was short. As we approached the top of descent; I had the FO call ZZZ ARINC to request the cruise clearance to ZZZZ since we still had not received one via CPDLC. After making the request with ZZZ ARINC; we finally received the cruise clearance to ZZZZ via CPDLC and immediately initiated a descent. At this point we were well above the descent path; and I discussed the measures I would take (configure early) to correct to the descent path in addition to the full speed brakes that had been deployed at cruise altitude.Approaching the final approach fix (ZZZZZ) on the RNAV X approach; fully configured with the landing checklist complete; we were visual with the runway; but were still too high on the path. I disconnected the Autopilot and auto throttles to take over manually. I decided that we were still too high and told the FO I would initiate a 360 degree turn and re-intercept the final approach course. During the descending turn; we entered in and out of clouds in the pitch-black night and I became disoriented. The aircraft exceeded 45 degrees of bank momentarily and the airspeed decayed below VREF speed. I initiated an upset recovery to return the aircraft to the desired state. I followed the upset recovery with a go-around procedure to clean up the aircraft. Once the go-around was complete; I reengaged the Autopilot and auto throttles and called for the after-takeoff checklist. We set up the FMC with a direct to ZZZZZ1 to commence the RNAV X approach again. After configuring the aircraft and completing the landing checklist; we realized there was no VNAV glide path from the FAF to Runway X. The PAPIs were also out of service for Runway X; so we had no glide path guidance. We were visual with the runway; and the FO and I agreed it was the best course of action to continue the approach. The FO backed me up with 300:1 guidance to ensure we remained on a safe glide path. The landing and taxi-in were uneventful.
Second reporter narrative
Flight from ZZZZ to ZZZZ departed approximately 30+ minutes late due to coordination with Dispatch/load planning in an attempt to accommodate more payload. I mention this because had we departed on time; we would have arrived at sunset; versus arriving at night. I was the PM for this leg. We leveled off at FL310 and attempted to obtain our cruise clearance for descent. Eventually the clearance was received via radio approximately 10 minutes after our initial request and well beyond our VNAV computed descent point. The Pilot flying (PF) attempted to recapture VNAV path via a combination of speed brake; and early extension of the landing gear and flaps; the autopilot and auto throttles were disconnected once the runway was clearly visible. Roughly a few miles prior to the FAF the airport and runway environment were clearly visible. Still short of the FAF; the PF elected to accomplish a 360 turn versus continuing a steep descent close in to the airport. During the maneuver the PF was mainly outside and I was mainly inside giving guidance via heading select and calling out altitudes. 180 degrees into the turn the PF had rolled wings level and began a slight turn back in the other direction. I continued to try and guide him in the direction of the initial turn as well as call out altitudes and speeds. At one point we did get 5-10 kts. slow. The aircraft got one 'bank angle' alert. It was at this point that the PF realized we were in an Undesired Aircraft State (UAS). They stated and accomplished the procedures for an upset recovery; followed shortly by a called go-around. At this time the aircraft was still going 180 degrees to the approach path. Autopilot and auto throttles were re-engaged and the aircraft was turned back onto the approach course via LNAV. After passing the FAF in VMC and the runway in sight; it was discovered that we had no vertical guidance to the runway. The PF discussed accomplishing another go around; but eventually elected to continue the approach and get the aircraft on the ground. PAPI/VASI at the airfield are inop. I provided the PF with distance from inside the FAF until touchdown. Aircraft landed uneventfully.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.