Czech investigators have determined that a Boeing 737-800 crew's failure to comply with sterile cockpit procedures during an approach to a wet runway contributed to its landing long and overrunning onto rough ground. The US-registered Swift Air aircraft had been operating from Heraklion to Pardubice on 1 August last year. Cockpit-voice recordings captured a "lively discussion" between the pilots on topics "not directly related to the flight performance" for the "whole time of approach and landing", says Czech investigation authority UZPLN. The aircraft overflew the threshold of runway 27 at a height of 64ft and touched down at 965m (3,166ft) – almost 40% along the 2,500m runway – after a prolonged flare. UZPLN says the crew "did not perform" a landing calculation in spite of acknowledging the wet runway status from approach control and the tower. The selection of 30° flap and the 'autobrake 2' setting was "most likely only by guess and prior experience" with landing at Pardubice, it adds. While the first officer, who was flying, queried whether to use a higher autobrake setting, the captain responded that this would not matter because reverse-thrust would be available.

Source: FlightGlobal

Airbus is developing a fix to an A321neo pitch-up issue, featuring a flight-control system update, which it expects will become available in the third quarter of 2020. The anomaly is the subject of a European Union Aviation Safety Agency directive requiring operators to introduce temporary revisions to the flight manual. EASA issued the directive following analysis of behaviour by the A321neo's elevator and aileron computer. FlightGlobal has learned that issue – which can result in excessive pitch-up – only affects the A321neo in particular remote conditions when combined with specific commanded manoeuvres. Four conditions are required. These comprise a low approach altitude, below 100ft, in a specific landing condition, with the aircraft characterised by a particularly aft centre-of-gravity, and the crew engaged in performing a dynamic manoeuvre – such as a go-around. Under these conditions the aircraft could enter a pitch-up situation which EASA has described as "excessive". FlightGlobal understands the crew would be able to react to the pitch-up to bring the aircraft immediately under safe control, and that there would be no automatic take-over of manual crew input by automatic aircraft systems.

Source: FlightGlobal

Oneworld carrier British Airways has suspended flights to the Egyptian capital Cairo for a week, to review security. The airline says its services to Cairo will be halted for seven days. BA operates a daily flight from London Heathrow using Boeing 787s. "We constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world," the airline says. It states that the suspension is a "precaution to allow for further assessment". "The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we would never operate an aircraft unless it was safe to do so," the carrier adds. Its formal advice to travellers says most visits to Egypt are trouble-free, but that there is a risk of terrorist attacks which, it says, could occur across the country.

Source: FlightGlobal