2025-12 · NASA ASRS report 2311084
B737 First Officer reported a temporary loss of control while intercepting the final approach course from above glidepath.
This was the first day of a three-day pairing; and this flight was the second flight of the day. The first flight of the day was ZZZ-ZZZ1 and was uneventful. The next flight was scheduled ZZZ1-ZZZZ. It started with a maintenance delay and aircraft swap; which resulted in a delay of just over an hour. Enroute we avoided some thunderstorms just south of ZZZ1 and the rest was uneventful. Around 200 miles north of ZZZZ; I set up and brief the ZZZZZ X arrival and the RNP Runway XX approach. A Threat Forward briefing was accomplished and all required items were covered. Early in the approach; ATC began to slow us down and eventually we were fully configured well prior to the FAP. Just prior to the FAP; ATC cancelled the approach clearance and had us climb to 11;000' and turn east. At this point the Captain suggested we just fly the ILS XX and proceeded to set that up. He set that all up and briefed the differences in the approach. He also made some recommendations on when to configure and mentioned that we would be intercepting the glideslope from above on final. Passing the ZZZ VOR inbound we fully configured and were configured prior to starting the inbound turn. Once on final we armed the approach and the aircraft immediately captured the Localizer and glideslope. As mentioned; we were slightly above the glideslope; so the Autopilot began to dive further to get on glideslope. I noticed the speed increase towards the limit and I helped the autothrottles pull more power to correct. We got on glideslope; but then the speed began to decay with the power back. The autothrottles attempted to correct; but were unable. At this point; the flight director clicked off and the aircraft was in CWS (Control Wheel Steering) P and CWS R. I attempted to stabilize the aircraft; but before I could the aircraft had pitched up with the added power and no longer under flight director guidance the speed continued to decay. While attempting to correct we got the 'Airspeed Low' audible alert. I recognized the upset and continued to correct by pushing over the nose. At this point the Captain was not comfortable with how quickly I was recovering and took control of the aircraft. He was able to quickly reestablish the airspeed and attitude; and shortly after was able to get us back on glideslope. Just prior to the 1000' call he gave control of the aircraft back to me and we continued the approach. We were stable at the 1000' and 500' gates and continued to land uneventfully. After checklists were complete; we completed a thorough debrief of the flight.
Cleared for the RNAV RNP XX ZZZZ during descent (established on approach) prior to ZZZZZ1 ATC directed slow to slowest approach speed. Configured aircraft to flaps 40 and target speed VREF + 7kts landing checklist complete. Prior to ZZZZZ2 ATC canceled app clearance and directed climb to 11000 turn to 090. A go-around was initiated to flaps 1 210 kts. at level recruised FMC AT 11000 ATC vector to a north heading. Requested ILS XX due to easier load and familiarity with the approach. Loaded app set loc frequency course and DA discussed arming app as roll wings level on final at or just prior to ZZZZZ3 also disscussed possibility of capturing glide slope from above causing rapid descent. Cleared direct ZZZ [VOR] and cleared for the approach. ATC directed descent to 9000 slowed to 180 restablished LNAV VNAV with Autopilot on. Completed configuration passing ZZZ flaps 40 checklist complete. Completing turn onto final at or about ZZZZZ4 Approach switched us to Tower and were cleared to land armed approach mode. Loc and glide slope captured immediately Autopilot pitched nose down aggressively. Airspeed rapidly approached over speed joining GS Autopilot pulled nose up auto throttles responded sluggishly and airspeed decreased below VREF aircraft Autopilot degraded to CWS (Control Wheel Steering)/CWP (Control Wheel Mode) aircraft ballooned above GS in a slight climb airspeed decreased to airspeed low aural auto throttles slow to respond. Directed FO (First Officer) to push nose down to gain airspeed. Airspeed came up slowly at which point a change of control was initiated. Clicked off Autopilot and auto throttles pushed nose down regained target speed then with field in sight continued down to regain slope remaining on LOC stabilized on speed slope and path approximately 12-1300 ft reengaged auto throttles and changed controls to FO 1000 ft call given missed app alt set 500 ft stable approximately 2-300 ft had FO move aim point to threshold for short slippery runway procedure crossed at 3 red 1 white on PAPI to an uneventful landing.
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.