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| Date: | Friday 22 July 2011 |
| Time: | 01:11 UTC |
| Type: |  Airbus A340-313 |
| Owner/operator: | Air France |
| Registration: | F-GLZU |
| MSN: | 377 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2000 |
| Engine model: | CFMI CFM56-5C4 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 284 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | 235 km NE of Guadeloupe -
 Atlantic Ocean
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Caracas-Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS/SVMI) |
| Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG/LFPG) | |
| Investigating agency: | BEA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Air France flight AF471, an Airbus A340-300, was enroute at FL350 over the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Guadeloupe when it entered a zone of moderate turbulence. The overspeed warning was triggered and the “Master Warning” warning light came on. The crew stated that they were very surprised by this warning. Mach reached 0.87 from the initial Mach 0.83.
The PNF manually disengaged the autopilot (AP) by pressing the takeover pushbutton on the side-stick. A pitch-up input on the PNF’s side-stick going as far as ¾ to stop was recorded for 6 seconds.
The pitch attitude increased and the aircraft began to climb, reaching a maximum of 38150 feet. As the aircraft descended past 36,520 ft. The PF then became aware of the disengagement of the AP and made a pitch-down input on his sidestick. Pitch attitude began to decrease 2 seconds later.
From 35400 ft , the PF re-engaged AP1, altitude stabilised at FL350, and A/THR was re-engaged.
The flight was continued to Paris.
Conclusion
This serious incident was due to inadequate monitoring of the flight parameters, which led to the failure to notice AP disengagement and the level bust, following a reflex action on the controls.
The following factors contributed to the serious incident:
- The AP disengagement aural warning was not broadcast, because of simultaneity with the “OVERSPEED” warning with higher priority.
- The turbulence encountered at the start of climb made parameter reading difficult.
- Checking AP engagement, as required in the operator’s “Severe Turbulence” procedure, was not carried out.
- Inappropriate use of the weather radar meant it was not possible to avoid entering a zone of turbulence.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
BEA
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 13 March 2012 | F-GLZU | Air France | 0 | near Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG/LFPG) |  |
non |
| 23 December 2014 | F-GLZU | Air France | 0 | Antananarivo-Ivato Airport (TNR/FMMI) |  |
min |
| Collision with Ground support equipment | ||||||
| 11 March 2017 | F-GLZU | Air France | 0 | Bogotá-Eldorado Airport (BOG/SKBO) |  |
non |
| Runway excursion | ||||||
| 28 November 2017 | F-GLZU | Air France | 0 | near Douala |  |
unk |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Sep-2011 03:44 | whiteshark | Added |
| 08-Jul-2023 04:00 | Ron Averes | Updated |
| 03-Sep-2024 06:23 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 03-Sep-2024 06:53 | ASN | Updated [Total occupants, Location, Country, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Category, Accident report, ] |
| 03-Sep-2024 06:57 | ASN | Updated [Source, ] |
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