Story ID: 
EASA Proposal Addresses Low-speed Loss of Control
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: Proposal would also ensure that the design of large airplanes provides an “adequate longitudinal controllability and authority during go-arounds."
Word Count: 227
A new notice of proposed amendment from the European Aviation Safety Agency is aimed at mitigating the risk of loss-of-control mishaps during go-arounds and other low-speed flight phases. The proposal would amend EASA CS-25 to ensure that the design of large airplanes is such that the go-around procedure with all engines operating can be “safely conducted by the flight crew without requiring exceptional piloting skills or alertness.”

The proposal would also ensure that the design of large airplanes provides an “adequate longitudinal controllability and authority during go-arounds and other low-speed” situations, EASA officials said. These changes “are expected to provide a fair safety benefit against an acceptable cost impact for large airplane manufacturers.”

Explaining the need for rule changes, EASA officials said a number of large airplane accidents or serious incidents occurred either during a go-around or with the aircraft close to the ground (but not in go-around mode) with the pilots attempting to climb. A loss of the normal missed-approach flight path or loss of control has been observed in relation to “inadequate awareness of the airplane’s state, or inadequate management by the flight crew of the relationship between pitch attitude and thrust.” Unusual pitch-up trim position has also been a factor in some occurrences in other flight phases.

Comments on the NPA are due by August 11.