A320, vicinity Tallinn Estonia, 2018

A320, vicinity Tallinn Estonia, 2018

Summary

On 28 February 2018, an Airbus A320 would not rotate for a touch-and-go takeoff and flightpath control remained temporarily problematic and the aircraft briefly settled back onto the runway with the gear in transit damaging both engines. A very steep climb was then followed by an equally steep descent to 600 feet agl with an EGPWS ‘PULL UP’ activation before recovery. Pitch control was regained using manual stabiliser trim but after both engines stopped during a MAYDAY turnback, an undershoot touchdown followed. The root cause of loss of primary pitch control was determined as unapproved oil in the stabiliser actuator.

Description

On 28 February 2018, the crew of an Airbus A320 (ES-SAN) being operated by SmartLynx Airlines Estonia on a circuit training detail at Tallinn for new-to-type pilots in day VMC lost normal pitch control of the aircraft when attempting to take off to complete the ‘touch and go’ initiation of a further circuit. The aircraft settled back onto the runway damaging both engines before becoming airborne again. Another descent led to an EGPWS ‘PULL UP’ warning and after the Training Captain had recovered control, the Safety Pilot took over from the Student to assist and a ‘MAYDAY’ was declared. The aircraft was positioned to land back in the reciprocal direction of the departure runway but when both engines failed on finals, an undershoot landing followed. This resulted in two of the seven crew members on board sustaining minor injuries and was followed by an emergency evacuation. Extensive damage to the aircraft meant that it was subsequently declared a hull loss.

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