"Instability of flight controls on final, go-around, harshness of controls and trajectory oscillations, @BEA_Aero is opening a safety investigation" into the "serious incident", Tuesday morning at Paris-Charles De Gaulle, indicates the BEA on Twitter.

In international civil aviation nomenclature, a serious incident is an "incident the circumstances of which indicate that there has been a high probability of an accident".

The classification of the incident as "serious" is due in particular to the fact that it took place "in the approach phase, where there is the most risk", with the take-off phase, according to a source close to the BEA.

This type of investigation is "regularly" opened by the BEA, according to this source, specifying that the incident in question did not cause any injuries.

For its part, Air France "confirms that the crew of flight AF011 of April 4, 2022 connecting New York JFK to Paris-CDG in B777 interrupted their landing sequence and carried out a go-around during the approach to Paris -Charles de Gaulle", according to a statement sent to AFP.

"The crew landed the aircraft normally after a second approach," adds the company.

Audio excerpts of exchanges between the cockpit and the control tower posted on the internet testify to the incident.

"Stop, stop," said one of the pilots to his colleague, in a stressed voice.

"I'll call you back," he then said to the control tower, which contacted him.

"We went over the gas, 4,000 feet (about 1,300 meters), we will maintain them, we will call you back," he said then.

The flight data visible on the FlightRadar site indicate that the plane was shortly before at 400 meters altitude.

"We went around so, flight control problem, the plane did just about anything", explains the pilot to the tower once the situation has stabilized.

According to Air France, "the go-around is defined by the authorities, the aircraft manufacturers and Air France as a normal procedure which goes in the direction of safety".

"Crews are trained and regularly practiced in these procedures practiced by all airlines in order to guarantee the safety of flights and passengers, which are absolute imperatives for Air France", adds the company, which "understands and regrets the discomfort that may have been felt by customers.

The black boxes containing the recording of the flight data (FDR) and the conversations in the cockpit (CVR) have been recovered and are "being analyzed", according to the BEA.

© 2022 AFP