The captain of an Air Niugini Boeing 737-800 that crashed while attempting to land at Chuuk on 28 September 2018 became fixated with trying to land the aircraft, ignoring several automated warnings that the aircraft was below the glidescope and had an excessive sink rate. The final report into the fatal accident of the aircraft, registered P2-PXE, by Papua New Guinea's Accident Investigation Commission (AIC) concluded that the aircraft was unstable in its approach, and the co-pilot should have taken control of the aircraft and initiated a missed approach, in accordance with the operator's standard operating procedure manual. It notes that the pilots failed to respond to 16 aural alerts from the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), "pull up" visual warnings at the bottom of the primary flight display, and indications from the PAPI that the aircraft's approach angle was too high, choosing instead to continue the unstable approach. The pilot-in-command also reported that there was no visibility for the last 30 seconds of the flight due to encountering a small storm cell. As a result, the aircraft impacted the water of Chuuk Lagoon around 1,500ft (460m) short of the runway threshold, deflecting across the water several times and turning clockwise before coming to rest partially submerged.

Source: FlightGlobal

Airbus has introduced a temporary revision to A321neo flight manuals intended to prevent the possibility of the aircraft reaching excessive pitch attitudes. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has disclosed that the revision follows analysis of the re-engined type's elevator and aileron computer. It has not elaborated on the situation beyond stating that "excessive" pitch could occur under certain conditions and "during specific manoeuvres". EASA cautions that this could result in "reduced control" of the aircraft. Airbus has issued temporary revisions to the aircraft's flight manual incorporating operational limitations. EASA has ordered operators of the A321neo to amend the flight manuals accordingly, within 30 days.

Source: FlightGlobal

The largest US pilots' union and US lawmakers have urged civil aviation agency ICAO to review its global pilot training standards – requests coming in a wake of two deadly Boeing 737 Max crashes. In requesting the review, the Air Line Pilots Association and lawmakers have not taken heat off Boeing but have suggested better pilot training standards may be needed. Controversy about the degree to which pilot actions contributed to the crashes has simmered since the two accidents, as have questions about a fast-track ICAO commercial pilot license called the "multi-crew pilot license" (MPL).
"Recently I wrote a letter to… the secretary general of the International Civil Aviation Organisation asking for a global review of pilot training qualification standards," ALPA president Joe DePete told lawmakers on 17 July during a House Transportation Committee aviation safety hearing.

Source: FlighGlobal