AN AIRBUS 300 ON FINAL APCH AT 400 FT BEGAN TO ROLL; A GAR WAS MADE AND A SECOND ATTEMPT TO LAND RESULTED IN A ROLL AT 400 FT. CREW DETERMINED NO SPD BRAKES OR SPOILERS WERE OPERATING. LANDED WITH FLAPS 20 DEGS WITH SPD ADDED. CAUSED BY BOTH EFCU'S LOOSE IN ELECTRONICS RACK.

Date: 1999-09 · Aircraft: A300 · Phase: landing

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|inflight-event-encounter-loss-of-aircraft-control

Synopsis

AN AIRBUS 300 ON FINAL APCH AT 400 FT BEGAN TO ROLL; A GAR WAS MADE AND A SECOND ATTEMPT TO LAND RESULTED IN A ROLL AT 400 FT. CREW DETERMINED NO SPD BRAKES OR SPOILERS WERE OPERATING. LANDED WITH FLAPS 20 DEGS WITH SPD ADDED. CAUSED BY BOTH EFCU'S LOOSE IN ELECTRONICS RACK.

Narrative

WHILE ON FINAL APCH INTO AUA AT APPROX 400 FT AND CONFIGURED NORMALLY; THE ACFT BEGAN TO ROLL WHILE ATTEMPTING A SMALL DRIFT CORRECTION. A GAR WAS ACCOMPLISHED AND A SECOND APCH WAS ATTEMPTED THINKING THAT PERHAPS A PLT INDUCED OSCILLATION WAS THE CAUSE. THE SECOND ATTEMPT AT LNDG PRODUCED THE SAME SYMPTOMS AT APPROX THE SAME ALT ON FINAL. ANOTHER GAR WAS ACCOMPLISHED AND THE FO; IO; AND I DECIDED TO TROUBLESHOOT THE PROB IN A HOLDING PATTERN. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT WE LOST ALL SPD BRAKES/SPOILERS; EVEN THOUGH WE GOT A VALID FLT CTL CHK DURING TAXI AT JFK. WE PULLED AND RESET APPROPRIATE CIRCUIT BREAKERS ALONG WITH RESETTING SPOILER SWITCHES ON THE OVERHEAD PANEL. THE LAND RECOVERY SWITCH WAS ACTIVATED IN AN ATTEMPT TO RECOVER 2-3-5 AND 7 -- ALL TO NO AVAIL. WE CONFIGURED FOR LNDG IN THE HOLD AND DECIDED TO UTILIZE 15/20 DEG FLAPS FOR LNDG WITH APPROPRIATE SPD ADDITIVES. NO ASSOCIATED FAULT LIGHTS OR ECAM MESSAGES PRESENTED AT ANY TIME AND THE DSCNT FROM CRUISE WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT SPD BRAKES; SO THEIR STATUS WAS NOT DISCOVERED UNTIL THE ANALYSIS IN THE HOLDING PATTERN. A SUCCESSFUL LNDG WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT WAS PERFORMED ON THE THIRD ATTEMPT. UPON PARKING; THE MECH DISCOVERED BOTH EFCU'S WERE DISCONNECTED ON THE RACK IN THE AVIONICS BAY. ZZZ MAINT WAS WORKING IN THAT VICINITY EARLIER IN THE DAY WHILE WORKING ON THE #1 FCC. WE SUSPECT THAT THEY WERE NOT SECURED PROPERLY AND BECAME DISLODGED DURING ENRTE TURB. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THAT ON BOTH APCHS TO 400 FT THE ACFT BEGAN TO ROLL; SO GAR MANEUVERS WERE MADE AND THE ACFT WAS CLBED TO 4000 FT FOR EVALUATION OF THE FLT CTL SYS. THE RPTR SAID IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE SPD BRAKES AND FLT SPOILERS WERE NOT OPERATING. THE RPTR STATED THE AIRBUS 300 WAS NOT DESIGNED TO FLY WITH AILERONS ONLY BUT MUST BE AUGMENTED WITH FLT SPOILERS. THE RPTR SAID THE AILERONS ARE LOCATED INBOARD ON THE WINGS AND ARE RELATIVELY SMALL COMPARED TO THE WINGSPAN. THE RPTR SAID 14 SPOILERS; 7 ON EACH WING ARE CTLED BY THE EFCU'S. THE RPTR STATED 5 SPOILERS ON EACH WING AUGMENT THE AILERON CTLS INFLT. THE RPTR STATED AT NO TIME DURING THIS EVENT WAS THERE ANY ECAM WARNING OR ANY OVERHEAD PANEL WARNING. THE RPTR SAID WHEN ON THE GND; MAINT FOUND BOTH EFCU'S LOOSE IN THE ELECTRONICS RACK. THE RPTR SAID THESE UNITS CTL THE OP OF THE SPD BRAKES AND FLT AND GND CTL SPOILERS. THE RPTR STATED IT WAS AT FIRST SUSPECTED THAT WORK ON THE FLT DIRECTOR PERFORMED OVERNIGHT AT ZZZ MAY HAVE RESULTED IN THESE UNITS BEING REMOVED. THE RPTR SAID THE FLT DIRECTOR UNITS WERE LOCATED IN A DIFFERENT RACK ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ELECTRONICS BAY AND NOT LOCATED NEAR THE EFCU'S. THE RPTR SAID AND WANTS TO EMPHASIZE THAT BOTH TIMES WHEN THE ACFT ROLLED AT 400 FT; THE ROLL BECAME UNCTLABLE.

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