Surprise and hesitation prevailed during the final seconds of an Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330-202’s approach to Tripoli, Libya, the morning of May 12, 2010. The Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has determined that the aircraft was well below the minimum descent altitude for the nonprecision approach when the copilot, the pilot flying (PF), asked the captain if he should initiate a go-around.
Although neither pilot had the required visual references to proceed with the approach, seconds passed as the aircraft continued to descend. Finally, an aural warning generated by the terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) prompted the captain to command a go-around.
The copilot applied full power and initiated a climb. According to the CAA’s final report, the sensory effects of the A330’s acceleration likely caused the copilot to falsely perceive that the aircraft had entered an excessive nose-up pitch attitude. He moved his sidestick forward, and the climb reversed into a steep…
