Further Preventing

Loss of Control
In-flight
Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I) has been one of the main
categories of fatal accidents since the beginning of commercial
jet aviation. While flight envelope protections in
fourth-generation aircraft have reduced LOC-I incidents by 90%
compared to third-generation aircraft, the continuous
enhancement of aircraft systems is necessary to further prevent
potential future accidents. Airbus has leveraged lessons learned
from in-service events to implement advanced safety
improvements in A350 aircraft, further mitigating the risk of
LOC-I accidents. The objective is now to upgrade the A320
family, A330, and A380 aircraft to get as close as possible to the
A350 standard for LOC-I prevention.
This article will describe these safety improvements, and outline
a strategy for implementing them across the Airbus fleet.
Check the latest version of this article on safetyfirst.airbus.com and on
the Safety first app for iOS and Android devices.

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 1/14​

STRENGTHENED PROTECTIONS
There are three barriers against LOC-I events that are available on fourth generation
commercial jet aircraft.

1.​ Autoflight

Autoflight assists flight crew in phases such as high altitude flying and can maintain
control of the aircraft when difficult conditions are encountered, like turbulence.
Flight crew workload is also reduced when autoflight is used, allowing them to
focus on management of system failures should they occur.

2.​ Flight Crew Awareness

When autoflight is not used, or if autoflight capability is lost due to a system failure,
or autopilot domain exceedance, the flight crew's awareness of the situation will
enable them to react and perform appropriate manual flying inputs.

3.​ Flight Envelope Protections

In certain, but rare conditions, the flight crew may lose situational awareness, which
can cause them to make inappropriate inputs on the flight controls. The crew may
also need to make rapid flight control inputs to perform an avoidance maneuver. In
these cases, the flight envelope protection introduced on the fourth generation of jet
aircraft, provides the third barrier to prevent LOC-I events.

Lessons learned from inservice events have driven the design of additional (fig.1) The three barriers
enhancements for each of the three safety barriers on the A350 aircraft. The against LOC-I that are
objective of the Safety Beyond Standard initiative is to also implement these available on fourth
enhancements on the eligible A320 Family, A330 and A380 aircraft to bring most of generation jet aircraft and
the Airbus fleet closer to the A350 standard. strengthened protections
available.

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 2/14​

ENHANCED AUTOFLIGHT AVAILABILITY
This increases the availability of the autopilot and autothrust, and reduces the risk of
flight crew startle due to a sudden loss of autopilot and autothrust. The difference of
the original configuration (pre-mod) and the increased availability after
implementation (post-mod) is described for each enhancement.

Enhanced Autoflight: Robustness to FMS Failures

A majority of cases reporting loss of autoflight system are due to a failure or reset of
the Flight Management System (FMS). In pre-mod configuration, when the FMS fails
or resets, the autopilot (AP), Flight Director (FD) and autothrust (ATHR) disconnect
(fig.2).

In post-mod configuration, the AP/FD/ATHR remain available in selected mode if the (fig.2) Enhanced Autoflight
FMS fails or resets. Robustness to FMS
Failures

Availability of the robustness to FMS failures

This enhancement is available on all A320 family aircraft manufactured from 2021. It
is available for retrofit on all A320 family aircraft manufactured before 2021.

A330 aircraft with GENEPI FMGEC hardware, which represents around 70% of the
fleet, can have the enhancement after upgrade to the H7 FMGEC standard that is
available from 2022.

This enhancement was installed as standard (or basic) on all A380 aircraft.

A320 A330 A380

% Avail. % Avail. % Avail.
Computer Standard Computer Standard Computer Standard
Fleet date Fleet date Fleet date

FG3G: FMGEC
Avail.
PC20/PI18 “GENEPI” 100%
100 % FMGC 70 % H7 Avail. PRIM All Basic
FG2G: hardware (basic)
2025 only
C15/I16

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 3/14​

Enhanced Autoflight Robustness to LGCIU Failures
Autoflight needs landing gear information (extended/retracted and
compressed/uncompressed). As a consequence, in the initial design, AP/FD/ATHR
are lost in the case of a LDG_LGCIU 1+2 FAULT or LDG_SHOCK ABSORBER
FAULT (fig.3).

In post-mod configuration, the flight guidance uses an additional source for landing
gear information. AP/FD/ATHR will remain available if both Landing Gear Control
Interface Unit (LGCIU) fail or in the case of a LDG_SHOCK ABSORBER FAULT
ECAM alert, maintaining capacity to perform CAT II or CAT III operations. This (fig.3) Enhanced autoflight
enhancement was installed as standard (basic) on all A330 and A380 aircraft. robustness to dual LGCIU
failure

Availability of the robustness to LGCIU failures

This enhancement is standard (basic) on all A320 family aircraft manufactured from
2021. It can be retrofitted on all previously built A320 family aircraft.

This enhancement was installed as standard (basic) on all A330 and A380 aircraft.

A320 A330 A380

% Avail. % Avail. % Avail.
Computer Standard Computer Standard Computer Standard
Fleet date Fleet date Fleet date

FG3G:
Avail.
PC20/PI18 100% 100%
100 % FMGC FMGEC All Basic PRIM All Basic
FG2G: (basic) (basic)
2025
C15/I16

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 4/14​

Enhanced Autoflight Robustness to Air Data Failures
In pre-mod configuration, AP/FD/ATHR requires at least two independent and
consistent airspeed sources to be available. As a consequence, AP/FD/ATHR are
lost in the case of a loss of the data from 2 ADRs.

Speed Monitoring function (Unreliable Airspeed Mitigation Mean (UAMM)

step 2)

In post-mod configuration, the use of an independent airspeed estimator, called

“Digital Back-Up Speed” (DBUS), is based mainly on angle-of-attack, load factor
value, aircraft weight and configuration, which enables monitoring of the
remaining ADR speed data. As a consequence, the following autoflight availability
is reinforced in the case of loss of air data as follows:

Only one ADR available

(fig.4) Enhanced autoflight
The AP/FD/ATHR will remain available even if two ADRs are lost . Automatic landing robustness to dual air data
is however no longer available. CAT I operations remain possible (G/S and LOC failure
modes remain available).

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 5/14​

Only digital backup speed available

If only the digital backup speed is available, the AP/FD/ATHR remain available, but (fig.5) Enhanced autoflight
in only selected modes. Automatic landing is however no longer available. CAT I robustness to triple air data
operations remain possible (G/S and LOC modes remain available). failure

No air data available

If no air data is available, including the digital backup speed, the AP/FD/ATHR (fig.6) Enhanced autoflight
remains available in clean configuration, but it will be in a degraded mode that robustness to triple air data
maintains the aircraft in level flight and heading only. The ATHR will adapt thrust to failure (digital backup speed
maintain the aircraft in the middle of the flight envelope. not available)

Availability of the robustness to air data failures

A330
A320 A380
% Fleet Computer Standard Avail. date

FMGEC
H7
(Genepi hardware only)
A330-900: EIS2 L14
Not available Available Not available
100%
FWC T9

FCPC M30neo

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 6/14​

ENHANCED CREW AWARENESS
Unexpected events in flight require appropriate action from the flight crew.
Examples of events include: Approach to stall, unreliable airspeed and excessive
bank angle. When these situations occur, flight crews must apply recovery actions
in a controlled and calm manner. Improved alerting cues and additional speed
information will assist flight crews to manage these unexpected events.

These enhancements improve situational awareness and aid in assessing the

situation quickly. With better awareness and assessment, flight crews can apply the
correct procedures safely and more effectively.

Digital Back-Up Speed/Altitude Display and

Assistance to Speed Information Selection
In pre-mod configuration, the aircraft are equipped with a backup speed scale
based on angle-of-attack value, providing speed information to the flight crew using
color bands that they can use below FL 250 (fig.7).

In post-mod configuration, the introduction of a digital backup speed (fig.8) (fig.7) pre-mod backup
computed with angle of attack value, aircraft weight and load factor provides an speed scale
additional speed indication to the flight crew that can be displayed on the PFD
when necessary. The digital backup speed has an accuracy of +/- 15 kt, which
means that the last digit of the speedscale is shown with a strikethrough line on the
PFD. The flight crew can display or remove the digital backup speed by pressing a
dedicated pushbutton for each PFD.

As the majority of pitot freezing events observed in-flight are temporary in nature,
the display of digital backup speed is reversible, which enables it to be switched off
and revert to the anemometric speed if the ADR data is recovered and reliable.

The independent airspeed source provided by the digital back-up speed also
enables additional monitoring of the data from the ADRs. An enhanced ECAM
procedure provides a status of the speed data from the 3 ADRs and of the digital
backup speed. It also provides guidance to the flight crew for selection of the
correct air data and will request the flight crew to switch the digital backup speed
(fig.8) post-mod digital
indication to ON when necessary.
back-up speed indication
and assistance to ADR
switching

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 7/14​

A380 aircraft: Same ADR monitoring and automatic airspeed switching as
on A350 aircraft

On A380 aircraft, the same ADR monitoring function and automatic PFD airspeed
display as on A350 aircraft will be available from Avionic batch 8.

Availability of the Digital Back-Up Speed/Altitude Display and Assistance to

Speed Information Selection

A320 A330 A380

% Avail. % Avail. % Avail.
Computer Standard Computer Standard Standard
Fleet date Fleet date Fleet date

FAC C CAA13 FCPC M28 neo

FWC H2F13 FWC T9

EIS2 S16 A330- EIS2 L13

900: Avionic
45 % Avail. Avail. 100% 2027
FDIMU FS3.1 100% FDIMU FL4 Batch 8

FCDC L27 HS
Wiring & Push buttons
Wiring & Push buttons

STALL message on PFD

An update of the EIS introduces a visual red alert on
the PFD in addition to the existing aural stall warning.
This improves the warning of an approaching stall
situation and alerts the flight crew that they must apply
corrective or recovery actions to avoid the stall
condition.

(fig.9) “STALL” message on the PFD

Availability of the STALL message on the PFD

A320 A330 A380

Avail. % Avail. % Avail.
% Fleet Computer Standard Computer Standard Computer Standard
date Fleet date Fleet date

100% EIS1
(12% with EIS2 S12 V114/V515
EIS Avail 100% EIS Avail 100% Basic
EIS1 LRU EIS1 V80 EIS2/EEIS
upgrade) L9E

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 8/14​

Excessive Bank Angle Alert in Alternate and Direct
Laws
This enhancement introduces a message on the PFD
and a “BANK BANK” aural alert when the aircraft
reaches an excessive bank angle (above 45°) in
alternate and direct laws where no excessive bank
angle protections are provided.

(fig.10) “BANK BANK” message on the PFD

Availability of the excessive bank angle alert in alternate and direct laws

This enhancement is available for all manufactured aircraft , or for retrofit on all of
the existing A320 family and A330 aircraft fleets. However, aircraft fitted with EIS 1
standard will only have the audio alert. This enhancement was installed as standard
(basic) on all A380 aircraft.

A320 A330 A380

% Avail. % Avail. % Avail.
Computer Standard Computer Standard Computer Standard
Fleet date Fleet date Fleet date

FAC B Next FCPC P17A/

TBD
100% hardware standard M28neo
A330-
(12% FAC C
CAA13 800 & FWC T9-2
EIS1 hardware Avail. 100% Basic
-900:
audio Avail.
FWC F13 100% EIS2 L13
only)
EIS2 S16 FCDC L27

ENHANCED FLIGHT ENVELOPE PROTECTION

AVAILABILITY
Enhancement of the flight envelope protection availability strengthens the third
safety barrier that prevents LOC-I events.

Pitch Attitude Limitation in Alternate Law

In pre-modification configuration, there is no flight envelope protection available for
the pitch axis in alternate law.

In post modification configuration, a pitch angle limitation is available in alternate law

when the aircraft is in clean configuration (fig.11). This prevents rapid speed decay,
reducing the risk of going too far outside of the flight envelope. Two limitations are
introduced:

●​ 𝛳max is the maximum pitch angle that can be reached with the sidestick
maintaining a pitch-up demand

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 9/14​

 ●​ 𝛳prot is the maximum pitch angle that can be maintained with the
sidestick in the neutral position.

Both maximum pitch angles vary as a function of altitude. Potential stall

situations are therefore limited in case of inappropriate flight crew nose-up inputs.

(fig.11) Pitch attitude

limitation in Alternate law

Availability of the pitch attitude limitation in alternate law

A320 A330 A380

% Avail. Avail. % Avail.
Computer Std. % Fleet Computer Std. Std.
Fleet date date Fleet date

100 % A330-200
Avionic
(except ELAC L104 Avail electrical FCPC P19 2025 100 % 2027
Batch 8
A318) rudder: 100 %

Flight envelope protections maintained in the case of

yaw damping function loss on A320 family aircraft
In pre-mod configuration, in the case of a loss of the yaw damping function caused
by loss of both yaw dampers or loss of both FAC computers, normal law and
flight envelope protections are lost, leading to a reversion to Alternate law.

In post-mod configuration, the aircraft also reverts to Alternate law, but the
protections from the normal law remain available with possible reduced
efficiency due to the absence of yaw damping.

Availability of the maintained protections in case of yaw damping function

loss

A320
A330 A380
% Fleet Computer Standard Avail. date

100%
ELAC L104 Avail Not available Not available
(except A318)

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 10/14​

Avoid undue simultaneous FAC Resets on A320 family
aircraft
In the case of a Rudder travel limiter fault on A320 aircraft, the ECAM procedure
requests the flight crew to reset each FACs in a sequence to try to recover the
function. The enhancement introduced improves the procedure by adding an “IF
UNSUCCESSFUL:“ line to make it more obvious to the flight crew to avoid
performing simultaneous resets of the FACs, which results in a temporary loss of
the normal law and its associated flight envelope protections.

(fig.12) enhanced ECAM

procedure to prevent
simultaneous FAC reset

Availability of the enhanced AUTO FLT RUD TRV LIM SYS ECAM alert

A320
A330 A380
% Fleet Computer Standard Avail. date

100 % FWC F12 Avail Not applicable Not applicable

ENHANCEMENTS IMPLEMENTATION
Making these safety enhancements available is part of the continuous enhancement
of all Airbus aircraft. The opportunity to implement these enhancements as a retrofit
solution on the existing Airbus fleet is key to further prevention of LOC-I events.
Airbus has several monitored retrofit campaigns to encourage and assist Operators
to implement these enhancements for their operational aircraft.

Software provided free of charge

To facilitate the retrofit of these enhancements on the compatible aircraft, Airbus

provides the software updates free of charge to Operators.

Limited grounding time

The software updates that introduce these enhancements can be done in a

relatively short time, limiting the time of aircraft on ground and limiting the cost of
labor hours.

For more information on the monitored retrofit campaign, please contact the Retrofit
Operations team at [email protected].

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 11/14​

Mixed Fleet considerations
Operators may have aircraft with different technical configurations that are not all
compatible with the retrofit of certain enhancements. This should not prevent them
from implementing the enhancement on their aircraft that are compatible. It is an
essential step to take safety beyond the standard for those aircraft that are
configured and capable of being retrofitted. This will enhance the overall safety
resilience of the fleet.

Limited operational impact

All the listed enhancements have a limited operational impact since most of them
are enhancement of the availability of already existing functions. The new displays,
and new or updated procedures are described in the FCOM and QRH.

Limited training requirement

Analysis of the training requirements showed that either a level A (self Instruction)
or level B (aided instruction) training is required to familiarize flight crews with these
enhancements.

Training
Enhancements Documentation Impact
level

Enhanced Autoflight Robustness to FMS

B FCOM, FCTM
Enhanced Failures and LGCIU failures
autoflight
availability Enhanced Autoflight Robustness to Air Data
B FCOM, FCTM, AFM, QRH
Failures (Alternate AP)

Digital Back-Up Speed (UAMM step 2) B FCOM, FCTM, QRH, AFM, MMEL
Enhanced
crew Excessive Bank Angle Alert A FCOM, FCTM, AFM
awareness
Stall message on PFD A FCOM

Avoid undue simultaneous FAC Resets on

A FCOM
A320 family aircraft
Enhanced
flight Pitch Attitude Limitation in Alternate Law
A FCOM
envelope (PALAL)
protections
availability Flight envelope protections maintained in the
case of yaw damping function loss on A320 A FCOM
family aircraft

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 12/14​

Contributors: Airbus has developed safety enhancements for the eligible A320
Thierry BOURRET
family, A330, and A380 aircraft to address Loss of Control In-flight
(LOC-I) risks. The objective of these enhancements is to bring the
Flight Control entire Airbus fleet as close as possible with A350 safety standards
Development Responsible with a focus on the three key areas of: Enhanced autoflight
Design Office
availability, improved flight crew awareness, and strengthened
Quentin BRUCY flight envelope protection.
Domain Program leader – Implementation of these enhancements on the aircraft with
A330 capable configurations are designed to allow retrofit with minimal
Design Office
operational impact, optimized costs of integration (e.g. software
Eric JEANPIERRE updates provided free-of-charge by Airbus), require limited
additional crew training (Level A or B).
Product Safety
Enhancement Manager These enhancements enhance LOC-I prevention, which is why
Aviation Safety
operators with partially compatible or mixed fleet configurations
Olivier JOSEPH are encouraged to implement upgrades where possible, as the
safety benefits outweigh any potential fleet inconsistencies.
Aviation Safety Specialist
Customer Support By adopting these improvements, operators contribute to an
Maxime LANSONNEUR increase in overall fleet safety. The enhancements are an essential
step in taking safety beyond standard, through leveraging
Director Safety - Training operational experience and technology to further prevent LOC-I
and Flight Operations events. Airbus has launched monitored retrofit campaigns,
Customer Support
working with operators to implement these safety enhancements
Nicolas WARTON at the earliest opportunity, reinforcing our collective commitment
to aviation safety.
Flight Control
Development Engineer
Design Office

Safety first - January 2025​ Page 13/14​

 Safety first, 2025. Safety first is
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Editor: Yannick Malinge, SVP

AViation Safety.
The Airbus magazine contributing to the enhancement of the safety of
Editorial team: Guillaume Estragnat, aircraft operations by increasing knowledge and communication on
Vanessa Sadi, Gwyneth Duggan, safety related topics.
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