Operational Liaison Meeting – Fly-By-Wire aircraft 2004

A321 Lateral Control in

Turbulence and Icing Conditions

Customer Services
 A321 Lateral Control in Turbulence and Icing
Conditions
• In service events

• Icing conditions

• Crosswind conditions

• Corrective actions
4Short term OEB
4Mid term ELAC modification
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• Other modifications introduced in ELAC L83/L91

• ELAC L83/L91 certification and retrofit status

• Conclusion
A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 2
 In service events

• On A321, several in service events between 1998 and 2003

highlighted unusual roll sensitivity in short final

44 cases in icing conditions (2 the same day on the same

airport in 1998, and 2 the same day on the same airport in
2002)
42 cases with gusty crosswind around 20kt (1 in 2001, and 1 in
2003)

• Worst consequence was a wingtip damage during a gusty

Xwind landing
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• In all cases, landing in Conf 3 after a Go around was

performed without apparent difficulty

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 3

 Icing conditions

• On one of the involved A321, ice accretion on flaps leading

edge was confirmed after landing. On the other cases, ice
accretion on flap leading edge was suspected .
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• Analysis of available data (DFDR) shows that spoilers

efficiency was increased versus the « dry » aircraft.

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 4

 Icing conditions

• To better understand the phenomenon, a natural icing

Flight Test campaign on A320 and on A321 (both fitted
with adequate Flight Test Installation) was performed in
2003. The purpose was to evaluate ice accretion patterns
on flap leading edges and the aero consequences.

• Main findings were:

4Similarice accretion on both A/C.
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4Increased spoilers efficiency on both A/C.

4Increased roll sensitivity only on A321.

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 5

© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document. Icing conditions

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 6

 Icing conditions

• To go further and allow extensive testing of iced aircraft,

ice shapes were manufactured using videos from natural
ice flights.

Spoiler ~ 10mm

m
15m
~
Flap A

m
© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

~ 5m
~1

Flap B
30
mm

~6
0m
m

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 7

© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document. Icing conditions

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 8

 Icing conditions
• Flights with ice shapes allowed to quantify spoilers
efficiency increase (+25%) on both A320 & A321.

• Analytic roll inputs showed unusual A321 roll response of

the iced A/C (overshoot, degraded turn coordination…).
(A320/319 are OK on this aspect).

• This degradation was mainly observed in Conf Full, to a

much lower extent in Conf 3.
© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

• Similarly, the increased spoilers efficiency decreased the

A321 F/CTL law stability at some piloting frequencies in
Conf Full and not in Conf 3. (A320/319 are OK on this
aspect).

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 9

 Crosswind conditions

• Recorders analysis of both events allowed to link the roll

oscillations to pedal inputs applied very early in approach
(starting from 200ft).

• Rudder was apparently used to co-ordinate the turn (i.e. in

the same direction as roll stick input) and/or to increase roll
response.
© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

• In one case, after a Go around, rudder was used as

recommended (for de-crab) in Conf 3 without any problem.

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 10

 Icing and crosswind conditions synthesis

• A deep analysis shows that on A321, roll generated by

rudder pedals in Conf Full was more important than on
other Single Aisle aircraft.

• The additional roll generated by rudder inputs and/or gust

can be compared to the increased roll efficiency of spoilers
on iced A/C.

• Both icing and crosswind incidents have the same root

© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

cause: a reduced stability margin of the lateral normal law

(with pilot in the loop) when combined with additional (non
linear) roll efficiency (generated by rudder input/gust/ice
shapes effects on spoilers).

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 11

 A321 lateral law stability summary

A321, Conf Full nominal case A321, Conf Full + roll

(no ice, no crosswind) response modification

Lateral law stability is satisfactory Lateral law stability is decreased

è Risk of PIO is increased
© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 12

 Corrective actions

• Short term actions:

A red OEB (153-1, June 2003) was issued to airlines
recommending Conf 3 for landing with significant
crosswind, in moderate to severe turbulence, or in
moderate to severe icing conditions.
• Mid term actions:
Modifications of the lateral normal control law in Conf 3
and Full on A321.
© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

→ Re-tuning of the gains (Conf 3 and Full) and

adjustment of spoilers kinematics (Conf Full).

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 13

 Corrective actions

• After complete flight test evaluation (including evaluation in

crosswind and with ice shapes), modifications were judged
satisfactory:
→ Stability margin at the same level than A320.
→ A/C response in « normal » conditions not degraded versus basic
A/C (even improved).
→ A/C handling with ice or in turbulence/crosswind significantly
improved (for pilot used to fly the A321, lateral behaviour is now
© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

similar to the A320).

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 14

 Corrective actions

A321, Conf Full nominal case A321, Conf Full + roll

(no ice, no crosswind) response modification
L81 L83/L91

Lateral law stability is satisfactory Impact of roll response modification

was decreased (same level as A320)
no more risk of PIO
© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 15

 Other modifications introduced in ELAC L83/L91

Some other improvements were introduced on ELAC L83/L91 for A321:

• Autopilot (AP) robustness :

4AP disengagement logic upon Vc/Mach overspeed conditions is
made more robust (same logic as on A330/340 family, based on
speed filtering to avoid spurious AP disconnection upon quick/slight
overspeed due to gust).

• Aileron anti-droop (option by pin-programming):

4Improvement of Single Aisle A/C landing and RTO performance
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using the ailerons as ground spoilers (symmetrical upward

deflection) :
– Increase of A/C drag
– Increase of vertical loads on wheels to improve braking performance

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 16

 ELAC L83/L91 certification and retrofit status

• F/CTL modification will be available for airlines in 2 ELAC

4L83 for ELAC A hardware
4L91 for ELAC B hardware

• Certification dates
4End of January 2004 for L83
4End of March 2004 for L91 (TBC)
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• A321 retrofit will then start as soon as possible

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 17

 Conclusion

• Thanks to an extensive Flight test campaign and Fly by Wire Flight

Controls, the issue could be identified and solved quickly.

• ELAC L83/L91 will remove the OEB for degraded weather conditions
and will provide the same level of handling as on other Single Aisle in
normal conditions.

• Even with ELAC L83/L91, basic recommendations are unchanged:

– Restrict use of rudder in approach to “de-crab” the A/C
© AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

in crosswind (recommendation FCOM bulletin N°54/1 “Aircraft Handling in final approach”)

– Extended flight in icing conditions with slats extended

should be avoided (FCOM, Vol 3, supplementary techniques, 3.04.30)

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions Page 18

 © AIRBUS S.A.S. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

A321 lateral control in turbulence and icing conditions

Page 19
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