A320 captain reports problems with the new fmgec's that are being retrofitted into the fleet. On two...

Narrative:

Prior to this flight we returned to the gate to have maintenance check a bang the flight attendant's heard. During approach when cleared to intercept runway 10 localizer; the localizer would not arm. I switched runways and reentered 10; but it still would not arm. I tried arming the approach and that didn't work either. The mechanic who came to address the issue said it was a known problem and occurred because of the return to blocks. This could have been extremely dangerous if this occurred in IMC and fuel or mechanical problems were also being dealt with. Why doesn't my air carrier: 1. Train us properly on the new fmgec's (flight management guidance envelope computer) and 2. Not inform the pilots of known problems that we may encounter?

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reports problems with the new FMGEC's that are being retrofitted into the fleet. On two separate occasions the FMGEC would not give proper flight director guidance to fly ILS approaches.

Narrative: Prior to this flight we returned to the gate to have Maintenance check a bang the Flight Attendant's heard. During approach when cleared to intercept Runway 10 LOC; the LOC would not arm. I switched runways and reentered 10; but it still would not arm. I tried arming the approach and that didn't work either. The mechanic who came to address the issue said it was a known problem and occurred because of the return to blocks. This could have been extremely dangerous if this occurred in IMC and fuel or mechanical problems were also being dealt with. Why doesn't my Air Carrier: 1. train us properly on the new FMGEC's (Flight Management Guidance Envelope Computer) and 2. not inform the pilots of KNOWN problems that we may encounter?

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	894160
Time
Date	201006
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ORD.Airport
State Reference	IL
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Component
Aircraft Component	FMS/FMC
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 6000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

A320 captain reports problems with the new fmgec's that are being retrofitted into the fleet. On two separate occasions the fmgec would not give proper flight director guidance to fly ILS approaches.