AN ACR B727 FLC HITS THE WAKE OF AN A320 10 NM AHEAD OF THEM AND THEY ROLLED 30 DEGS TO THE L AND PITCHED DOWN 3 DEGS. THIS HAPPENED TWICE AND AFTER THE SECOND ENCOUNTER THE FLC STAYED HIGH ON APCH TO AVOID THE WAKE.

Date: 1997-10 · Aircraft: B727-200 · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: inflight-event-encounter-other-unknown|other-unspecified

Synopsis

AN ACR B727 FLC HITS THE WAKE OF AN A320 10 NM AHEAD OF THEM AND THEY ROLLED 30 DEGS TO THE L AND PITCHED DOWN 3 DEGS. THIS HAPPENED TWICE AND AFTER THE SECOND ENCOUNTER THE FLC STAYED HIGH ON APCH TO AVOID THE WAKE.

Narrative

FOLLOWING AN AIRBUS A320 INTO BOS FOR AN ILS RWY 4R APCH; WITH VERY SMOOTH FLT CONDITIONS; 10 MI BEHIND THE AIRBUS (AS SHOWN ON TCASII AND AS TOLD BY APCH CTL); WE ENCOUNTERED THE WAKE OF THE A320. MY ACFT WAS ON THE AUTOPLT; ABOUT 10000 FT MSL; WHEN THE WINGS ROLLED SHARPLY TO THE L ABOUT 30 DEGS; AND THE NOSE PITCHED DOWN 3 DEGS. OUR INDICATED AIRSPD WAS 240 KTS AT THE TIME. ABOUT 10 SECONDS LATER WE RECEIVED A SECOND; SIMILAR JOLT. THE PAX WERE CONCERNED; AS RELAYED BY OUR FLT ATTENDANTS; NO INJURIES OCCURRED. ACFT CTL WAS REGAINED AFTER ONLY A FEW SECONDS AFTER THE UPSETS OCCURRED; BY DISCONNECTING THE AUTOPLT AND HAND FLYING THE ACFT. CONCLUSION: WAKE TURB SEPARATION CRITERIA IS INADEQUATE; AND WE NEED TO INCREASE THE STANDARD MINIMUM SEPARATION ON APCH AND DEP. THE B757 SHOULD BE THE SAME AS A HVY. ALSO; ADDITIONAL ENCOUNTERS BEHIND THE A320 WERE AVOIDED (I'LL NEVER REALLY KNOW) BY FLYING THE APCH 1 DOT HIGH ON THE GS. OVER THE COURSE OF THE APCH; THE DISTANCE BEHIND THE A320 SLOWLY CLOSED FROM 10 MI TO 6 MI. APCH CTL ROUTINELY INFORMS PLTS THEY ARE FOLLOWING A HVY OR B757 TOO LATE TO REQUEST ADDITIONAL SEPARATION. WE NEED TO FIX THIS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR HAS HAD A NUMBER OF WAKE ENCOUNTERS; BUT AFTER THIS ONE HE HAS DECIDED THAT HE WILL NOT ROUTINELY ASSUME THAT THE DISTANCE SEPARATION GIVEN IN THE WAKE SEPARATION GUIDELINES IS SUFFICIENT. HE HAD ALREADY HAD SEVERAL BAD EXPERIENCES WITH WAKE ENCOUNTERS DURING DEPS AND HE NOW INSISTS ON BOTH A DISTANCE AS WELL AS A TIME ELAPSED SEPARATION. THE CAPT SAID THAT HE DOES NOT THINK THAT THE CTLRS KNOW ABOUT HOW CALM WINDS AND OTHER STABLE CONDITIONS CAN MAKE THE WAKE MUCH MORE PERSISTENT IN SOME CASES. HE SAID THAT THE CTLRS SHOULD HAVE TO; AT LEAST; VIEW A WAKE TURB VIDEO TO GAIN GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROB. HE FEELS THAT THE PROB OF WAKE DISTURBANCES IS GROWING.

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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.