‘Serious Incident’ During Air France Approach Under Investigation

During a final ILS approach Tuesday, pilots flying Air France Flight 11 to LFPG from John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK) told air traffic controllers that flight controls did not respond to their commands. 

Moments after the incident, pilots regained control and executed a go-around, before landing safely on their second landing attempt.

In a recording of the incident posted on YouTube by AirLive, the pilots can be heard making an initial ILS approach to Runway 26L with light winds at 8 knots. Conditions appear normal, until flight deck alarms sound and the pilot—breathing heavily—says, “Stop, Stop!”

ATC then is heard in the recording directing the pilot to abort the approach at 1,500 feet and go around. 

“We went around following an issue with commands,” the pilot says after executing the go-around. “The airplane didn’t respond.”

After holding at 4,000 feet, the pilots then requested and received permission to use Runway 27R for its second landing attempt.

As pilots know, a go-around is a common maneuver performed thousands of times a year at airports worldwide. 

BEA said the incident involved “instability of flight controls on final” and “flight path oscillations.” A tweet on the agency’s Twitter account said information from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder would be analyzed and it would have no further comment until after a full safety investigation. 

The twin-engine widebody airliner, registered as F-GSQJ, was manufactured by Boeing 17 years ago, according to FlightRadar24. When asked for comment, a Boeing spokeswoman referred FLYING to BEA.