The pilots could no longer control the plane.
An Air France Boeing 777 from JFK airport in New York had to give up landing at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle (Seine-Saint-Denis) on Tuesday after a serious incident.
Flight AF011 was on "final", the last leg of the approach phase, descending in the axis of the runway, when the pilots noticed that the aircraft was no longer responding to the controls and was deviating to the left.
The plane was then at an altitude of 1,200 feet (about 370 m) according to Air Journal, and had to perform a "go around", an emergency go-around.
Air France Boeing 777-300 (F-GSQJ, built 2005) was on final approach to runway 26L at Paris-CGD Intl Airport (LFPG) when the pilots reported control issues.
Flight #AF11 from New York went around and returned for a safe landing about 20 minutes later.
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— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) April 5, 2022
A document posted online (to listen to below) allows you to hear the exchanges between the pilots and the airport control tower at the time of the incident.
“We went over the gas, 4,000 feet, we will maintain them, we will call you back”, describes in particular the pilot, in this exchange where he seems somewhat panicked.
He then resumes a less exalted tone and mentions “a problem with the flight control, the plane did almost anything”.
This Wednesday, the BEA (Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for Civil Aviation Security) announces in a press release to open “a security investigation”.
It depicts a “serious incident”, with “flight control instability on final, go-around, harsh controls and trajectory oscillations”.
The data recovered on Tuesday and Wednesday are "being analyzed", specifies the BEA.
"A go-around due to a technical incident during the approach"
In a press release, Air France explains for its part that the crew of the flight “interrupted their landing sequence and carried out a go-around due to a technical incident during the approach.
The crew got the situation under control and landed normally after a second approach”.
ATC audio from Air France AF11 reveals pilots having serious control issues moments before landing at Paris-CDG Airport yesterday.
The crew eventually resolved the problem and safely landed minutes later.
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— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) April 5, 2022
According to this press release, the go-around is "a normal procedure" and "crews are trained and regularly made aware of these procedures which are used by all airlines to guarantee the safety of flights and passengers, which is an absolute necessity. for Air France”.
