An A320's nose wheel steering servo failed and caused a wheel north/west steering fault ECAM. When t...

Narrative:

We declared an emergency with approach due to a nose wheel steering fault. We had been working this issue on and off since shortly after rotation. The first officer was pilot flying and captain was pilot not flying. Captain did a great job of communicating with all parties concerned. The flight attendants also did a great job of taking care of the passengers' concerns. The emergency occurred because a steering servo broke. Our experience with maintenance control during this event was less-than-stellar. We had noticed in both the QRH and in the non-normal supplemental handbook that with this fault we might also encounter a shock absorber fault upon gear extension. When maintenance control was queried about what to expect; they had no idea that this was a possibility and; in fact; told us that the fault would be a non-event. They were quite surprised when we informed them otherwise. We were quite disappointed in the fact that maintenance control did not appear to have either reference book lying open in front of them and that they would speak off-the-cuff when advising a crew.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A320's nose wheel steering servo failed and caused a WHEEL N/W STEERING FAULT ECAM. When the landing gear was lowered the SHOCK ABSORBER FAULT ECAM alerted so an emergency was declared prior to landing. In flight maintenance technical support was minimal.

Narrative: We declared an emergency with Approach due to a Nose Wheel Steering Fault. We had been working this issue on and off since shortly after rotation. The First Officer was pilot flying and Captain was pilot not flying. Captain did a great job of communicating with all parties concerned. The flight attendants also did a great job of taking care of the passengers' concerns. The emergency occurred because a steering servo broke. Our experience with Maintenance Control during this event was less-than-stellar. We had noticed in both the QRH and in the Non-Normal Supplemental Handbook that with this fault we might also encounter a Shock Absorber Fault upon gear extension. When Maintenance Control was queried about what to expect; they had no idea that this was a possibility and; in fact; told us that the fault would be a non-event. They were quite surprised when we informed them otherwise. We were quite disappointed in the fact that Maintenance Control did not appear to have either reference book lying open in front of them and that they would speak off-the-cuff when advising a crew.

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	910759
Time
Date	201009
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Nosewheel Steering
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

An A320's nose wheel steering servo failed and caused a wheel north/west steering fault ECAM. When the landing gear was lowered the shock absorber fault ECAM alerted so an emergency was declared prior to landing. In flight maintenance technical support was minimal.