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A MD80 failed a flight control computer autoland check because of landing zone parameter deviations. Maintenance released the aircraft for flight following an acceptable 'go'/'no go' test overriding the flight crew's evaluation.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 840656 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200906 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Landing |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Autoland |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
I accomplished a requested FCC (flight control computer) check on this aircraft. The aircraft failed this test due to three things. 1) airspeed control; plus 7 KTS at 300 ft AGL. 2) aircraft autolanded 50 ft left of centerline and tracked left of centerline for several hundred ft. 3) autopilot made an abrupt correction to centerline. I wrote this information in the logbook. Maintenance investigated this problem. Maintenance performed several checks on the autoland system. After two 'no go' tests; a third test displayed a 'go' on the autoland system. I am requesting further clarification on this practice. If the maintenance autoland test supersedes the crews FCC check; then why are we asked to perform this test. If the crews do check and it fails then logic tells me that the autoland system is unsatisfactory for use until maintenance action is done to correct the observed failure.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A MD80 failed a flight control computer autoland check because of landing zone parameter deviations. Maintenance released the aircraft for flight following an acceptable 'GO'/'NO GO' test overriding the flight crew's evaluation.
Narrative: I accomplished a requested FCC (Flight Control Computer) check on this aircraft. The aircraft failed this test due to three things. 1) Airspeed control; plus 7 KTS at 300 FT AGL. 2) Aircraft autolanded 50 FT left of centerline and tracked left of centerline for several hundred FT. 3) Autopilot made an abrupt correction to centerline. I wrote this information in the logbook. Maintenance investigated this problem. Maintenance performed several checks on the autoland system. After two 'No Go' tests; a third test displayed a 'Go' on the autoland system. I am requesting further clarification on this practice. If the maintenance autoland test supersedes the crews FCC check; then why are we asked to perform this test. If the crews do check and it fails then logic tells me that the autoland system is unsatisfactory for use until maintenance action is done to correct the observed failure.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.