B737, manoeuvring, west of Norwich UK 2009

B737, manoeuvring, west of Norwich UK 2009

Summary

On 12 January 2009, the flight crew of an Easyjet Boeing 737-700 on an airworthiness function flight out of Southend lost control of the aircraft during a planned system test. Controlled flight was only regained after an altitude loss of over 9000 ft, during which various exceedences of the AFM Flight Envelope occurred. The subsequent investigation found that the Aircraft Operators procedures for such flights were systemically flawed.

Description

On 12 January 2009, a Boeing 737-700 being operated by Easyjet on a non revenue function flight out of Southend and, by agreement with ATC, within a designated Military Training Area at FL150 in day Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) when there was a temporary loss of control during a planned system test. A ‘PAN’ was declared to ATC and a successful recovery was eventually achieved after an altitude loss of over 9000 ft, during which various exceedences of the Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM) Flight Envelope occurred. Recovery back to Southend as originally planned was achieved without further event.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the UK AAIB. Full Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) data was available for the Investigation.

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