Description

On 26 February 2020, an Airbus A321 (G-POWN) being operated by Titan Airways on a non revenue positioning flight from London Gatwick to London Stansted in night VMC took off just after midnight and almost immediately after it became airborne experienced successive malfunctions of both engines. Following declaration of a MAYDAY the flight crew was able to complete a return and landed back at Gatwick 11 minutes later. 

Investigation

A Field Investigation was carried out by the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Relevant data was successfully downloaded from both the SSFDR and the 2 hour SSCVR. ECAM messaging relevant to the aircraft engines and systems which had been presented to the pilots of the final and previous flights was also examined and ATC radar and Gatwick Airport CCTV recordings were also available as was the maintenance history of the aircraft. Since early findings of the Investigation were conclusive as to the underlying cause of the engine malfunction, a Special Bulletin covering this progress was published on 21 April 2020.   

It was noted that the 28 year-old Captain, who had been PF for the flight, had a total of 5,059 hours flying experience of which all but 204 hours were on type. The 38 year-old First Officer had a total of 1,245 hours flying experience of which all but 162 hours were on A320 series aircraft.