Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar has changed its flight operating procedures following a 2007 incident in which its pilots mishandled a go-around while trying to land at Melbourne Airport.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which classified the incident as serious, released its report on it today.
On 21 July 2007, Jetstar pilots attempted to land an Airbus A320, registration VH-VQT, at Melbourne Airport. The aircraft was operating on a scheduled service from Christchurch.
Because of low visibility conditions due to fog, the crew was unable to land the aircraft and had to execute a go-around, says the ATSB.
However, the pilot did not move the aircraft's thrust levers to the "take-off/go-around" position, which resulted in the aircraft continuing its descent to the runway in automated flight mode.
It reached a minimum recorded height of 38 feet above the runway before it responded to manual flight crew inputs and started to ascend, says the ATSB.
"The aircraft was subsequently processed by air traffic control for another approach. This second approach also resulted in the crew conducting a missed approach, which was completed within expected parameters," adds the ATSB.
The aircraft was then diverted to Avalon Airport, where it landed safely, says the ATSB.
In its investigations, the bureau found that before the incident, Jetstar had changed its go-around procedure and "moved the positive confirmation of flight mode to a much later position in the procedure".
The change required for confirmation of an aircraft's flight mode to be made only after a "positive rate of climb was obtained".
"In this instance, due to the aircraft continuing to descend, with the crew distracted by unexpected warnings and a subsequent increased workload, this call could not be made by the flight crew," says the ATSB.
The bureau also found that Jetstar failed to comply with incident reporting requirements, as the carrier did not report the incident to the ATSB.
As a result of the incident, Jetstar has changed its go-around procedure to reflect that published by Airbus as the aircraft manufacturer, says the ATSB.
A formal risk management process will also be needed to support any changes to aircraft operating procedures, it adds.
"In addition, the operator is reviewing its flight training requirements, has invoked a number of changes to its document control procedures, and has revised the incident reporting requirements of its safety management system," adds the bureau.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
