Results of investigation into the A319 at Palermo

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Longtimer
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Results of investigation into the A319 at Palermo

Post by Longtimer »

Are we continuing to see the perils of "over auotmation" vs the benefits / experience gained by "Hands on flying" ?

A319 pilots landed short after failing to sight runway
By: DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROWLONDON Source: in 5 hours
Pilots of a Wind Jet Airbus A319 landed far short at Palermo after deciding to continue a non-precision approach at night, in poor weather, despite failing to sight the runway.

Italian investigation authority ANSV has determined that the pilots demonstrated a “poor attitude” towards crew resource management and failed to maintain a sterile cockpit during the descent or carry out proper approach briefings.

The aircraft landed 367m (1,200ft) short of the runway 07 threshold and skidded for 850m, suffering such extensive damage that the twinjet was written off.

ANSV says there was “deliberate disregard” for procedures at the point of reaching the minimum descent altitude, when the crew is supposed to confirm sighting of the runway – and execute a go-around if it is not clearly visible.

The aircraft crossed the minimum altitude of 710ft and the captain urged the first officer, who was flying, to continue the approach, despite being unable to confirm a runway sighting.

ANSV says the first officer subsequently identified the runway at 480ft, and the captain took control of the aircraft. But at 240ft the first officer exclaimed that he saw “four red”, a reference to the precision approach path indicator lamps, which showed the A319 was far below the correct glidepath.

The inquiry says that the adverse weather and darkness, combined with the descent over water, created a “black hole” illusion which led the pilot to believe the aircraft was high on the approach.

This caused him to “abandon” the ideal descent profile and steepen the approach sharply. The A319 crossed over the airport’s terminal VOR beacon at a height of 92ft, less than half the 200ft expected for a normal glide.

Although the aircraft sustained heavy damage during the ground impact and slide, there were no fatalities or even serious injuries among the 129 occupants. Thirty-four passengers and a crew member suffered minor injuries in the 24 September 2010 event.
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ahramin
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Re: Results of investigation into the A319 at Palermo

Post by ahramin »

Actually it shows completely the opposite. In this case the automation would have flown the right to the threshold, despite their disregard for minimums.

When your pilots are clowns who can't be convinced to follow something as blindingly obvious as not descending below minimums without the runway in sight, making hand flying verboten starts to make sense.

Of course the real solution lies in having professional chief pilots, which leads to professional pilots on the line. You can reduce accidents by mandating automation use, but you can't get anywhere close to eliminating them.
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peeelot
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Re: Results of investigation into the A319 at Palermo

Post by peeelot »

Ahramin do you flying an Airbus? Because your statement about the aircraft flying it to the threshold is totally incorrect. Yes the aircraft can do it mostly on automation but if it's a non precision approach the autopilot would have to be disconnected much earlier.
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bizjets101
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Re: Results of investigation into the A319 at Palermo

Post by bizjets101 »

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ahramin
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Re: Results of investigation into the A319 at Palermo

Post by ahramin »

Sorry, I should have said guided. Brain fart as the autopilot disconnects 100' below the entered minimums, which they should not have descended below.

My point is that descending below minimums without the runway in sight is not an automation issue, and poor decisions like these are what lead to the current Max Automation fetish.
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Meatservo
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Re: Results of investigation into the A319 at Palermo

Post by Meatservo »

Sounds like just another case of not being able to fly, more than it sounds like anything to do with automation or not. In any aeroplane at all, it's not good enough to do almost everything correctly except for the last bit. Nobody should be trying to make excuses or acting surprised after they deliberately went below profile in IMC and found themselves sliding along the ground.

I think this report hits the nail on the head. No respect for the principles of CRM, no respect for the rules, no respect for procedures, no respect for the lives of their passengers, no respect for their profession. No excuse.
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Troubleshot
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Re: Results of investigation into the A319 at Palermo

Post by Troubleshot »

some more info and photos here. Not sure if they have already been posted.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4315b792
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