A320 flight crew experiences ECAM for left/G shock absorber fault at FL370; followed by autopilot; a...

Narrative:

In cruise at FL370 approximately 300nm from destination and four hours into the flight we received a ECAM for left/G -shock absorber fault. We then received ECAM for a/P and a/thr. We then noticed the engines had rolled back to idle. The captain (PF) then backed the throttles out of climb detent to regain control. We also noticed that we lost both flight directors and FMA's. Initiated a call to dispatch to help establish contact with maintenance. As we were talking to maintenance (about 10 minutes later) we noticed that the flight directors reappeared on both of our pfd's. We then attempted to engage the autopilot and autothrottle. This worked for less then a minute then we received the left/G shock absorber ECAM again followed by the a/P and a/thr disconnect ECAM's. At this point we decided we would not use the auto flight systems for the remainder of the flight. Since there is nothing in the flight manual about this situation we consulted maintenance for any other information we would need to know to conduct a safe approach and landing. They informed us that to be alert for an ECAM for the north/west which we had already noted in the flight manual. In coordination with dispatch we declared an emergency and the captain flew an uneventful ILS approach to landing.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Flight Crew experiences ECAM for L/G Shock Absorber Fault at FL370; followed by Autopilot; Autothrottle; and FMA failures. Crew continues to destination for uneventful landing using manual flight and throttle controls.

Narrative: In cruise at FL370 approximately 300nm from destination and four hours into the flight we received a ECAM for L/G -Shock Absorber Fault. We then received ECAM for A/P and A/thr. We then noticed the engines had rolled back to idle. The Captain (PF) then backed the throttles out of climb detent to regain control. We also noticed that we lost both Flight Directors and FMA's. Initiated a call to Dispatch to help establish contact with Maintenance. As we were talking to Maintenance (About 10 minutes later) we noticed that the Flight Directors reappeared on both of our PFD's. We then attempted to engage the autopilot and autothrottle. This worked for less then a minute then we received the L/G shock absorber ECAM again followed by the A/P and A/thr disconnect ECAM's. At this point we decided we would not use the Auto Flight systems for the remainder of the flight. Since there is nothing in the Flight Manual about this situation we consulted Maintenance for any other information we would need to know to conduct a safe approach and landing. They informed us that to be alert for an ECAM for the N/W which we had already noted in the flight manual. In coordination with Dispatch we declared an emergency and the Captain flew an uneventful ILS approach to landing.

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	914888
Time
Date	201010
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Nose Gear
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 80 Flight Crew Total 6500 Flight Crew Type 1335
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 167 Flight Crew Total 10000 Flight Crew Type 3317
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

A320 flight crew experiences ECAM for left/G shock absorber fault at FL370; followed by autopilot; autothrottle; and FMA failures. Crew continues to destination for uneventful landing using manual flight and throttle controls.