In cruise at FL350 an A319 flight crew begins to receive multiple nuisance ECAM cautions and warning...

Narrative:

We were in stable cruise flight at FL350 in smooth ride conditions. Everything appeared to be completely normal. We than began to get multiple ECAM warnings and cautions. As soon as we would try to silence the master warning and master caution aurals to begin to analyze the problem; new cautions and warnings would appear causing the master warning and master caution aural to sound again. We ended up holding the emergency cancel button down to prevent the continuous caution and warning aurals. I gave control of the airplane to the first officer so I could work the ECAM. The ECAM was continuously adding and changing the warnings and cautions making it impossible to run any ECAM checklists. The ECAM warnings and cautions seemed to cover many unrelated systems. Systems involved included but were not limited to: smoke aft/ fwd cargo; eng 1 lo oil press; ign a fault; navigation; fadec 1 overheat; fadec 2 overheat; N1 over limit; att discrepancy; fwc 2 fault; lgciu fault; rud trim 1; splr fault; sdac fault; and RA 1 fault. Although we were receiving all these warnings and cautions all systems seemed to continue to work normally. The airplane stayed in normal law with the autopilot engaged. I called the a flight attendant to advise her of our situation and also ask if they were experiencing any odd indications in the cabin. She said everything was normal in the cabin. The weather in our planned destination was low overcast skies with light snow and limited visibility with conditions worsening. We asked ATC for ZZZ weather. The ZZZ weather was night VFR. I sent dispatch a message; but due to the ACARS being tied up we were unable to receive the frequency for contact with dispatch until the ACARS completed receiving and printing the previous request. So we decided to divert to ZZZ based on the better weather and closer proximity. We informed ATC of our intentions to divert to ZZZ. I decided there was no need to declare an emergency at this time because all systems other than the ECAM appeared to be working normally. I sent an ACARS message to dispatch informing them or our intention to divert. Once we had begun the diversion the ACARS finally completed its task and I received the frequency to contact dispatch. I got dispatch and maintenance on the radio and briefly described our situation. I told dispatch we were diverting to ZZZ and asked them to update our destination in the computer so we could check the landing data. I also asked if they had any ideas. He recommended resetting the fwc (flight warning computer). As maintenance was preparing to talk me through the reset of the fwc we lost our phone patch. At this time we were approximately 50 miles out of ZZZ at approximately 15000 feet. As all systems other than the ECAM seemed to functioning somewhat normally I elected to abandon contact with company and focus on the arrival into ZZZ. The approach; landing; and taxi into the gate at ZZZ were uneventful.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: In cruise at FL350 an A319 flight crew begins to receive multiple nuisance ECAM Cautions and Warnings. Although no aircraft systems seem to be malfunctioning; the warnings continue until the aircraft is well into the descent to the divert airfield.

Narrative: We were in stable cruise flight at FL350 in smooth ride conditions. Everything appeared to be completely normal. We than began to get multiple ECAM warnings and cautions. As soon as we would try to silence the master warning and master caution aurals to begin to analyze the problem; new cautions and warnings would appear causing the master warning and master caution aural to sound again. We ended up holding the emergency cancel button down to prevent the continuous caution and warning aurals. I gave control of the airplane to the First Officer so I could work the ECAM. The ECAM was continuously adding and changing the warnings and cautions making it impossible to run any ECAM checklists. The ECAM warnings and cautions seemed to cover many unrelated systems. Systems involved included but were not limited to: Smoke Aft/ Fwd Cargo; Eng 1 lo oil press; IGN A fault; NAV; FADEC 1 overheat; FADEC 2 overheat; N1 over limit; ATT discrepancy; FWC 2 fault; LGCIU fault; RUD trim 1; SPLR fault; SDAC fault; and RA 1 fault. Although we were receiving all these warnings and cautions all systems seemed to continue to work normally. The airplane stayed in normal law with the autopilot engaged. I called the A Flight Attendant to advise her of our situation and also ask if they were experiencing any odd indications in the cabin. She said everything was normal in the cabin. The weather in our planned destination was low overcast skies with light snow and limited visibility with conditions worsening. We asked ATC for ZZZ weather. The ZZZ weather was night VFR. I sent Dispatch a message; but due to the ACARS being tied up we were unable to receive the frequency for contact with Dispatch until the ACARS completed receiving and printing the previous request. So we decided to divert to ZZZ based on the better weather and closer proximity. We informed ATC of our intentions to divert to ZZZ. I decided there was no need to declare an emergency at this time because all systems other than the ECAM appeared to be working normally. I sent an ACARS message to dispatch informing them or our intention to divert. Once we had begun the diversion the ACARS finally completed its task and I received the frequency to contact dispatch. I got Dispatch and Maintenance on the radio and briefly described our situation. I told Dispatch we were diverting to ZZZ and asked them to update our destination in the computer so we could check the landing data. I also asked if they had any ideas. He recommended resetting the FWC (Flight Warning Computer). As Maintenance was preparing to talk me through the reset of the FWC we lost our phone patch. At this time we were approximately 50 miles out of ZZZ at approximately 15000 feet. As all systems other than the ECAM seemed to functioning somewhat normally I elected to abandon contact with company and focus on the arrival into ZZZ. The approach; landing; and taxi into the gate at ZZZ were uneventful.

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.

Attributes
ACN	874371
Time
Date	201002
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Indicating and Warning - Flight & Navigation Systems
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 170 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 3200
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120 Flight Crew Total 14000 Flight Crew Type 2500
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

In cruise at FL350 an A319 flight crew begins to receive multiple nuisance ECAM cautions and warnings. Although no aircraft systems seem to be malfunctioning; the warnings continue until the aircraft is well into the descent to the divert airfield.