EasyJet A320 Paphos Report

1123heavy

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/578df05140f0b652dd00014c/Airbus_A320-214_G-EZTE_08-16.pdf


Found this to be an interesting read and was doing the rounds today. Essentially the FO is alleged to have messed up a visual approach leading to an alpha floor activation (A/P automatically engages TOGA thrust to prevent further speed decay I believe) and of course its lead to all the usual talk about young FOs and their abilities.

discussed further here: https://50skyshades.com/news/airlines/easyjet-incident-highlights-open-descent-mode-risk

martinsvi

ah sure, 2800 hours on type is just a noob..

1123heavy

martinsvi wrote: »

ah sure, 2800 hours on type is just a noob..

About 3 years flying under an easyJet schedule. It is interesting how many hold the view it is nowhere near enough to be flying such a jet and that Europe is heading the wrong way compared to the US.

I've been looking into this recently and noticed The 'miracle on the Hudson' pilot Cpt Sullenberger is very vocal against people with such levels experience being anywhere near the cockpit of such aircraft.

martinsvi

well it's not the count of the hours that matter, it's their quality. Hundreds of 200 hour cadets take their seats into fast jets, be it civilian or military, every year without any problem. This is not a new thing, it has always happened like this and never really caused much of an issue (with few exceptions).

What I would rather focus on is the quality of integrated programmes that some of the airlines, including Easyjet, are running. You can get through hour building in the likes of CTC/FTE/CAE without seeing a cloud in the sky or ever doing an overhead join or landing in short/soft field etc

putting cadet bashing aside, the FO was no rookie, everyone can have a bad day at the office. Perhaps the A320 is not as intuitive as it should be, or the auto thrust/FD relationship is a bad design or whatever, but not monitoring your instruments or allowing the speed to decay like this and then just bailing out handing it over to cpt is a sign that some very basic things have been missed or have been forgotten since the very beginning of the flight training. You could put this chap in a regional turboprop or whichever aircraft you think is more appropriate for a low hour pilot, the same thing would have happened at some point.

duskyjoe

Hmmm......the Capt should have been on top of this scenario. Standard Airbus calls -actions when a visual approach is executed, ie flight directors off, inbound course set, track/FPA selected and go around alt set. Situation awareness totally lost by all concerned.