A319, vicinity Zurich Switzerland, 2014

A319, vicinity Zurich Switzerland, 2014

Summary

On 17 October 2014, two recently type-qualified Airbus A319 pilots responded in a disorganised way after a sudden malfunction soon after take-off from Zurich required one engine to be shutdown. The return to land was flown manually and visually at an excessive airspeed and rate of descent with idle thrust on the remaining engine all the way to a touchdown which occurred without a landing clearance. The Investigation concluded that the poor performance of the pilots had been founded on a lack of prior analysis of the situation, poor CRM and non-compliance with system management and operational requirements.

Description

On 17 October 2014, an Airbus A319 (YU-APA) being operated by Air Serbia on a scheduled passenger flight from Zurich to Belgrade as ASL371 experienced a malfunction which affected the operability of the right engine soon after take-off in day VMC. Although no explicit declaration of emergency or urgency was made, ATC were advised that an immediate return to land was required and provided assistance which facilitated a subsequent landing on runway 28. There were no injuries to any of the 125 occupants, but the response of the pilots to the airworthiness problem encountered, including some erratic manoeuvring, the maintenance of excessive speed and an obviously unstable approach to a landing without clearance were considered grounds for investigating the operational safety of the flight.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB). Data from the FDR and the 2 hour CVR were successfully downloaded and recorded ATC data relevant to the Investigation were also available.

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