Lufthansa Airbus A320

The Lufthansa Airbus A320 best refers to the accident that occurred on March 20, 2001, which is one of maintenance-related failures in aviation.

Description

On March 20, 2001 a Lufthansa Airbus A320 almost crashed shortly after takeoff because of reversed wiring in the captain's sidestick flight control. Quick action by the co-pilot, whose sidestick was not faulty, prevented a crash.

Causes

The investigation has focused on maintenance on the captain's controls carried out by Lufthansa Technik just before the flight. During the previous flight, a problem with one of the two elevator/aileron computers (ELAC) had occurred. An electrical pin in the connector was found to be damaged and was replaced. It has been confirmed that two pairs of pins inside the connector had accidentally been crossed during the repair. This changed the polarity in the sidestick and the respective control channels "bypassing" the control unit, which might have sensed the error and would have triggered a warning. Clues might have been seen on the electronic centralized aircraft monitor (ECAM) screen during the flight control checks, but often pilots only check for a deflection indication, not the direction. Before the aircraft left the hangar, a flight control check was performed by the mechanic, but only using the first officer's sidestick.