A321 pilot reported an autoflight malfunction during cruise which limited the autoflight and navigation capabilities of the aircraft. The flight diverted to an alternate airport and landed.
Synopsis
A321 pilot reported an autoflight malfunction during cruise which limited the autoflight and navigation capabilities of the aircraft. The flight diverted to an alternate airport and landed.
Narrative
During the cruise portion of the flight; both FMGC 1 and 2 froze. Autopilot 1 and 2 failed and we lost auto thrust. We followed ECAM instructions followed up with QRH and requested priority handling with the request to divert to ZZZ. With no way to navigate towards the ZZZ we requested radar vectors from ATC for a visual approach to XXR. Because this was an overweight landing after the landing we stopped on a taxiway and had fire department check our wheels for any damage. I need to note that left main gear had Mel for inop break fan so we anticipated that the break temp was going to be pretty high on the left main gear. After fire department reported there was no visual damage we continued to taxi to our gate. About half way to our gate operations vehicle that was following us reported that our left outboard tire was flat. We stopped and called operations and they arranged to deplane aircraft on a taxiway using busses to transport pax to the terminal.Cause: I think this was one of those events that had a feeling of perfect storm. While; malfunctions happen often; this one just kept getting more serious. First all all; after both FMGC s stopped responding and we lost most of our automation (Autopilot; flight director auto thrust and navigation capability) at 30000 ft; we had to first keep flying our aircraft. After we accomplished that; and after running ECAMA and QRH directions we had to make a decision what to do. As a crew we decided that the best decision would be to divert to ZZZ. As we were getting radar vectors and were preparing for our arrival to ZZZ we talked about threats on our arrival and landing. First one was that we were going to land overweight. Second was that it was a high altitude airport and the third one was that the aircraft we were flying had an inop break fan on a left main gear. Following our procedures we realized we will have to land flaps 3 which was going to increase our approach speed thus increase the break usage. After uneventful touchdown we taxied of the runway to a complete stop and had fire department check our main landing gear for any damage. After we received green light from them we proceeded to taxi to our gate. While taxing to the gate we watched our break temp on our left side climb pretty drastically.About half way to our gate; airport vehicle alerted us that our left main tires appeared to be deflated. We stopped and advised operations that we will need to deplane the aircraft on the taxiway and bus our passengers to the terminal. After shutting down engines and running all of the necessary check lists; we were able to relax for the first time in a bit of time. Not sure if there is anything we can do to mitigate the risks of random malfunction because that will happen but I will admit in many years flying airbus I have never had to hand fly the airplane with no flight director no autothrust and no Autopilot while not being able to navigate. I would say if possible more hand flying with no automation and navigation during our training would help.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.