2025-09 · NASA ASRS report 2283576
B737-800 flight crew reported autopilot malfunctions due to a Total Air Temperature Probe failure.
Flight ABCD ZZZ to ZZZ1. I was the PM and the Captain was the PF. Right before we leveled off at FL370; the autopilot disengaged. The Captain tried to re-engage the autopilot a few times but would not work. As he leveled off; we started to notice a few other issues such as AUTOTILT FAIL on the ND (Navigation Display) as well as the TAT (Total Air Temperature) and SAT (Static Air Temperature) indications being blanked out so he called for the QRH. I read as he was hand flying. After confirming that it was a TAT Probe Failure; I read through the procedure; and asked ATC to descend to FL270 since we no longer were RVSM compliant without an autopilot. As we leveled off we discussed what our plan of action was going to be. We decided that we were going to continue to ZZZ1 because the weather was VFR there and because we no longer had VNAV; Autopilot; Autothrottles; and a flight director we would request priority handling. After requesting priority handling; the Captain gave me the aircraft and the radios so he could talk to dispatch and the flight attendants about what was going on. After that was done; I gave the aircraft back to the captain and we continued on to land at ZZZ1 safely.To mitigate the risks; the Captain and I always made sure we knew who was flying the aircraft and who was working the radios as well as keeping everyone that was involved with the flight (flight attendants; dispatch; and ATC) informed about what was going on.
South of the ZZZZZ fix just prior to level off FMA (Flight Mode Annunciator) displayed CWS P (Control Wheel Steering Pitch). Auto tilt fail illuminated on the ND (Navigation Display). And TAT (Total Air Temperature) was dashed lines. Once we leveled aircraft off we checked instruments and autopilot function. Called for Autotilt Fail; led us to TAT probe fail in QRH. We complied with the checklist. Coordinated with dispatch and center to remain clear of weather with radar vectors and iPad apps. Descended to FL 270 to remain below RVSM airspace. Due to weather conditions enroute we decided to continue to ZZZ as weather was VFR and routing to ZZZ would keep us mostly clear of weather enroute. We took turns hand flying and landed uneventfully in ZZZ.TAT probe failure. More information in QRH would be helpful especially when weather is a factor. Hand flying at night in weather is very demanding.
More incidents for this aircraft family
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
Loading the flight search…
Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.
We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.
Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.
Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.