Summary
- An easyJet flight descended well below the glide path while approaching Geneva Airport.
- Initiating a go-around with a landing configuration can lead to a lack of altitude and requires careful handling of the aircraft.
- Despite the incident, the aircraft accomplished three subsequent flights with none further issues throughout the day.
The Swiss Safety Investigation Board (SUST) has disclosed that it began an investigation into an easyJet flight, where the aircraft was well below the approach glide path when it was descending to land at Geneva Airport (GVA), Switzerland.
Just 230 meters above Lake Geneva
In keeping with SUST, the incident involves a United Kingdom (UK)-registered easyJet Airbus A320neo, registered as G-UZLO. The aircraft was operating flight U23291 between Edinburgh Airport and GVA on November 5, 2023.
Flightradar24 data showed that this was the primary flight of the day for the A320neo, which departed the Scottish airport at 7:10 local time (UTC +0) and was scheduled to reach at its destination at 10:10 local time (UTC +1).
Photo: GB-Photographie | Shutterstock
It was cruising at around 39,000 feet (11,887 meters) before the pilots began descending the aircraft at 9:30 local time, because it crossed the Swiss border some 20 minutes later. The Airbus A320neo began its right-hand turn to GVA at 9:52, reducing speed accordingly. Because it continued descending into the airport, it reached its lowest calibrated altitude of two,475 ft (754.3 m) at 9:55 after the pilots initiated a go-around.
The Airbus A320neo reached an altitude of seven,575 ft (2,308 m) because it turned around to try its landing on the airport for the second time. Nonetheless, this time, the aircraft’s calibrated altitude was about 4,000 ft (1,219 m) around the identical location where it reached a calibrated altitude of two,475 ft (754.3 m) during its first approach attempt.
In keeping with SKYbrary, a project led by EUROCONTROL, GVA’s elevation is 1,411 ft (430 m). Meanwhile, Lake Geneva, which is simply to the east and northeast of the airport, has a median elevation of 1,220 ft (372 m). As reported by aeroTELEGRAPH, the easyJet Airbus A320neo was just 230 m (754.5 ft) above the lake, with the aircraft’s initial glide path potentially leading to a collision with the terrain.
SUST has only issued a notification concerning the incident, noting that it only includes preliminary information concerning the event and that an investigation is currently underway. The Swiss investigators detailed that six crew members and 157 passengers were onboard the A320neo, with the pilots landing using the Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) approach.
Flightradar24 records showed that G-UZLO accomplished three subsequent flights after the incident, including a return flight to EDI, from where it flew to Fuerteventura Airport (FUE) and back to Scotland with none further incidents durign the day.
Why Does easyJet Have Swiss And Austrian Subsidiaries?
Risks during go-arounds
In keeping with SKYbrary, a go-around initiated with a landing configuration, including the landing gear being down, will inevitably end in a lack of altitude while the engines are accelerating. As well as, if the pilots initiate a go-around at even lower speeds, it may very well be already too unstable, and pilots must rigorously handle the aircraft.
As such, low airspeed and/or thrust ends in an altitude loss after the pilots set the thrust to Take-off/Go Around (TO/GA). The altitude loss is exacerbated if the thrust is below idle, which can be a risk factor when initiating a go-around.
Taking a look at the altitude and speed graph of the easyJet Airbus A320neo, the aircraft’s ground speed was 137 knots (253.7 kilometers per hour) at 2,975 ft (906.7 m) at 9:54:59. At 9:55:08, the bottom speed increased to 142 kts (262.9 km/h) at 2,675 ft (815.3 m), subsequently increasing to 148 kts (274 km/h). Nonetheless, that’s when the aircraft reached its lowest calibrated altitude of two,475 ft (754.3 m) before it began climbing again.
What Is A Go Around And Why Do They Occur?
Aircraft must abort landings for a wide range of reasons