37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Attributes | |
ACN | 1335741 |
Time | |
Date | 201602 |
Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
Place | |
Locale Reference | ZZZZ.ARTCC |
State Reference | FO |
Environment | |
Flight Conditions | VMC |
Light | Daylight |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | Gulfstream G650 |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
Flight Phase | Cruise |
Flight Plan | IFR |
Component | |
Aircraft Component | Flap Control (Trailing & Leading Edge) |
Person 1 | |
Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
Events | |
Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe |
Narrative:
Approximately two hours after we departed we experienced several system failures simultaneously which included the failure of both autopilots; flaps; as well as our stall protection system. The first officer was flying at the time and I was in the right seat. I proceeded to go through the associated checklists as per our QRH to resolve the issues. Unfortunately the failures could not be resolved. I proceeded to call to inform maintenance and see if they could come up with a way to fix the system failures. After updating them on what was happening we called gulfstream tech support and informed them of the situation. Shortly after I received a sat phone call from gulfstream tech support and had a conference call with several engineers and pilots to see if we could resolve the issues. Unfortunately there was no way to fix the failures we had. I then woke up the third pilot from his crew rest and updated him on the situation. All three of us discussed the situation and what our possible options were. I was hand flying the plane at this point to give the first officer a break and I asked everyone to discuss the possibility of diverting. After much discussion we decided that the best solution would be to continue on as scheduled. We spent the remaining eight hours of the flight hand flying and rotating in one hour shifts so that we could all rest as much as possible. Once we had made our final decision as to what we were going to do I decided to brief the passenger on the situation. There were no additional preparations for them to make as this would still be a normal approach and landing. We then discussed who would land the plane and we decided that I would land the airplane since I have had a similar experience with having to land an airplane without flaps on four different occasions. The first officer was to assist me in the right seat and the relief pilot would observe and assist in a safety role and monitor us from the flight observers seat. Shortly before we began our descent the first officer went to the back of the airplane to inform the passenger of the situation. He informed the passenger that there were some indications that the flaps may not function as they normally would during our landing today and that this will result in a higher than normal pitch attitude during landing and also that we will land at a faster speed due to the fact that we will not have flaps. The passenger asked a few questions about the flaps and what they do for the plane and he then told the first officer to just be safe.during our arrival we informed ATC that we could not maintain reduced vertical separation minimums (rvsm) and asked for a descent to 28;000 feet. ATC was very helpful in complying with our request. We then asked ATC to land on the longest runway and they complied with our request. That would be the safest option for us since we were landing without our flaps and we would use more runway than we normally would. The approach and landing [were] executed exactly as we trained for and we were able to make a safe and smooth landing. After landing we taxied to our normal parking spot and the passenger exited the aircraft. He was very happy and in good spirits
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Gulfstream G650 experienced multiple system failures; with one of the system failures requiring a no flap landing at the destination. Aircrew elected to continue to their destination.
Narrative: Approximately two hours after we departed we experienced several system failures simultaneously which included the failure of both autopilots; flaps; as well as our stall protection system. The First Officer was flying at the time and I was in the right seat. I proceeded to go through the associated checklists as per our QRH to resolve the issues. Unfortunately the failures could not be resolved. I proceeded to call to inform maintenance and see if they could come up with a way to fix the system failures. After updating them on what was happening we called Gulfstream Tech Support and informed them of the situation. Shortly after I received a Sat phone call from Gulfstream Tech Support and had a conference call with several engineers and pilots to see if we could resolve the issues. Unfortunately there was no way to fix the failures we had. I then woke up the third pilot from his crew rest and updated him on the situation. All three of us discussed the situation and what our possible options were. I was hand flying the plane at this point to give the First Officer a break and I asked everyone to discuss the possibility of diverting. After much discussion we decided that the best solution would be to continue on as scheduled. We spent the remaining eight hours of the flight hand flying and rotating in one hour shifts so that we could all rest as much as possible. Once we had made our final decision as to what we were going to do I decided to brief the passenger on the situation. There were no additional preparations for them to make as this would still be a normal approach and landing. We then discussed who would land the plane and we decided that I would land the airplane since I have had a similar experience with having to land an airplane without flaps on four different occasions. The First Officer was to assist me in the right seat and the Relief Pilot would observe and assist in a safety role and monitor us from the Flight Observers seat. Shortly before we began our descent the First Officer went to the back of the airplane to inform the passenger of the situation. He informed the passenger that there were some indications that the flaps may not function as they normally would during our landing today and that this will result in a higher than normal pitch attitude during landing and also that we will land at a faster speed due to the fact that we will not have flaps. The passenger asked a few questions about the flaps and what they do for the plane and he then told the First Officer to just be safe.During our arrival we informed ATC that we could not maintain Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums (RVSM) and asked for a descent to 28;000 feet. ATC was very helpful in complying with our request. We then asked ATC to land on the longest runway and they complied with our request. That would be the safest option for us since we were landing without our flaps and we would use more runway than we normally would. The approach and landing [were] executed exactly as we trained for and we were able to make a safe and smooth landing. After landing we taxied to our normal parking spot and the Passenger exited the aircraft. He was very happy and in good spirits
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.