A global safety deficiency
False glide slope capture affecting aircraft
M.J. Schuurman (TU Delft - Structural Integrity & Composites)
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Abstract
A serious incident occurred at Eindhoven Airport (Netherlands) in May 2013. A Boeing 737-800 performed a go-around while using the Instrument Landing System (ILS). The flight crew reported a False Glide Slope capture as the reason for the go-around.
At first the occurrence report did not really gain much attention but when the investigation progressed it turned out to be a safety deficiency on a global scale. Following flight tests it was found that a potential serious weakness in the automatic systems and logic used was discovered that effected many aircraft types and perplexed many pilots in the past.
The Dutch Safety Board finalised the investigation with recommendations in two Final Reports. The first report deals with the event ”Stick shaker warning during ILS approach Eindhoven Airport” and a second report, “Pitch-up Upsets due to ILS False Glide Slope”, deals with the explanation of the pitch-up response of aircraft on a global scale.