Opposing pilot inputs likely behind Air France 777 landing scare

An aircraft landing scare in Paris earlier this month most likely resulted from the Air France pilots submitting contradictory commands, rather than any malfunction of the plane, according France’s air-safety investigator.

No failure warnings were activated and no anomaly was observed with the Boeing Co. 777 in the incident on April 5, the Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses said Wednesday. Flight AF011 from New York landed on the second attempt after pilots told air traffic control it was unresponsive on the first approach.

“The captain held the control column in a slightly nose-down position while the co-pilot made several, more pronounced, nose-up inputs,” the BEA said in a preliminary report.

The 777 desynchronizes its controls if opposing forces applied by both pilots exceed a threshold of around 50 pounds before synchronizing them again when the forces drop, the investigator said. It will continue to probe the incident and said that “particular attention will be given to reproducing the forces applied.”