Hi,After reading through the FMGS FCOM multiple times I still can't find the answer to a abnormal situation on the A320 so hopefully someone here can assist.How can you force the aircraft out of Approach mode? some background to the situation I found myself in last night. I was departing a high altitude airport using TOGA thrust and what I thought we're the correct speeds calculated by TOPCAT, however shortly after VR the aircraft entered ALPHA FLOOR and then TOGA LK . I was able to recover the situation however the MCDU had transitioned to the Go around phase and in a attempt to clear it I activated the approach phase.The result was I no longer had Managed Speed, and Managed ALT for the remainder of the 2hr flight.Regards

Rob, Where can you acquire a copy of the A320 FCOM?

Rob, Where can you acquire a copy of the A320 FCOM?

Sorry I cant give you a link as it would get me in trouble with the mods. You can find lots of places to download online just Google 'A320 FCOM'

OK. Thanks.

When you say high altitude airport, how high? What was the altitude setting on the mode control panel. I ask because if say you set 3000ft msl on the MCP, and you were at 4000 msl, you would have triggered a descent, especially at the relatively slow speed, that might have convinced the aircraft that you were in fact on approach, hence the Alpha Floor lock.Just a Thought.

Hi,After reading through the FMGS FCOM multiple times I still can't find the answer to a abnormal situation on the A320 so hopefully someone here can assist.How can you force the aircraft out of Approach mode? some background to the situation I found myself in last night. I was departing a high altitude airport using TOGA thrust and what I thought we're the correct speeds calculated by TOPCAT, however shortly after VR the aircraft entered ALPHA FLOOR and then TOGA LK . I was able to recover the situation however the MCDU had transitioned to the Go around phase and in a attempt to clear it I activated the approach phase.The result was I no longer had Managed Speed, and Managed ALT for the remainder of the 2hr flight.Regards

In the real thing you enter a cruize alt in the PROG page, that forces it out of Approach mode and into something more appropriate.Whether it would work in whatever model you're using I don't know,Hope this helps,Ian

When you say high altitude airport, how high? What was the altitude setting on the mode control panel. I ask because if say you set 3000ft msl on the MCP, and you were at 4000 msl, you would have triggered a descent, especially at the relatively slow speed, that might have convinced the aircraft that you were in fact on approach, hence the Alpha Floor lock.Just a Thought.

Hi,The Airport was 7165ft msl the reason for the Alpha Floor was my error, I was using correct V speeds for config 3 however in taxi out I selected config 1+F and didn't do a take proper take off brief hense not picking up the mistake.I activated the approach phase on the MCDU in a attempt to get out of the go around mode. Anyway I found the answer in the end, you have to activate the secondary flightplan and perform a Direct-To the next waypoint, that will force the MCDU back in the CLB phase.Ian - What you describe regarding re-entering the Crz alt in the Prog page on INIT-A works for when you start a early descent level off and want to force the aircraft back into CRZ mode.Cheers.

Well glad you sorted it all out - that sounds more complicated than the Boeing procedures to my ears, though. But I guess it's a matter of what you're used to.Regrds,

Ian - What you describe regarding re-entering the Crz alt in the Prog page on INIT-A works for when you start a early descent level off and want to force the aircraft back into CRZ mode.

As I said, In the real thing you enter a cruize alt in the PROG page, that forces it out of Approach mode and into something more appropriate.Whether it would work in whatever model you're using I don't know,Hope this helps,Ian

As I said, In the real thing you enter a cruize alt in the PROG page, that forces it out of Approach mode and into something more appropriate.Whether it would work in whatever model you're using I don't know,Hope this helps,Ian

Ian could you point this out to me in the FCOM - It doesn't make sense to me in the situation I described. If I'm climbing out of 7000ft AGL my current CRZ alt in the MCDU is 35000FT for example, are you saying if I changed it to 34000FT the MCDU logic will exit APPR mode and Enter CLB? I explained I know I can force the aircraft "back" to cruise by re-entering a crz alt but no-where does it mention whilst in climb updating the crz alt will give you CLB MODE on the perf page. I guess I could have leveled off at 8000FT entered 8000FT as my Crz alt then continued under managed guidance. Strange it doesn't mention this in the FCOM, unless I've missed it? Thanks for sharing your knowledge, the Boeing & even MD11 FCOM's seem a lot clearer regarding many operational aspects.EDIT- I did find the info below from a Airberlin training guide. How to get out of Go Around phase ?The purpose of getting out of the Go Around phase is to obtain the proper target speed, and proper predictionsdepending upon the continuation of the flight as decided by the pilot.During the missed approach the crew will elect a strategy which it will indicate to the FMS (indeed the FMS is unable tochoose a strategy!…):- either come back and land ➜ ACTIVATE APPR PHASE,- or divert to an ALTN airfield. There are 3 possibilities to indicate this to the FMS:• the ALTN FPLN has been prepared⇒ Lat Rev at TO WPT + ENABLE ALTN,• the SEC FPLN has been prepared to a diversion airfield⇒ ACTIVATE SEC FPLN (HDG mode must normally be active).• Nothing has been prepared! Then select SPD 250 kt + OP CLB to initiate climb. Insert NEW DEST + CRZ FL;then finalize the diversion FPLN.The Go Around phase will automatically switch to CLB phase (or to appropriate phase - depending on altitude), andmanaged speed target is then initial climb speed.

Don't have your answer, but did some study and this may help --The FMGS has a FLIGHT PLAN. The FLIGHT PLAN has LATERAL and VERTICAL parts to it. The VERTICAL FLIGHT PLAN is divided into PHASES. The PHASE determines altitude and speed targets, and determines the vertical autopilot MANAGED MODES that can be engaged. so in this instance it appears the GO AROUND PHASE of a flight plan, will allow engagement of SRS (GA) MODE (and GA TRK MODE for lateral). You can change into a SELECTED MODE such as OPEN CLIMB or V/S depending on button actions. To get into a different PHASE such as climb, will require flight plan changes. I guess this is where the change of cruise alt comes in -- it forces the system to see a flight plan change, and it then recomputes the appropriate PHASE. Once in, for example CLIMB PHASE, you could then engage an appropriate MANAGED MODE, such as CLIMB MODE.Does this make any sense? scott s..

Don't have your answer, but did some study and this may help --The FMGS has a FLIGHT PLAN. The FLIGHT PLAN has LATERAL and VERTICAL parts to it. The VERTICAL FLIGHT PLAN is divided into PHASES. The PHASE determines altitude and speed targets, and determines the vertical autopilot MANAGED MODES that can be engaged. so in this instance it appears the GO AROUND PHASE of a flight plan, will allow engagement of SRS (GA) MODE (and GA TRK MODE for lateral). You can change into a SELECTED MODE such as OPEN CLIMB or V/S depending on button actions. To get into a different PHASE such as climb, will require flight plan changes. I guess this is where the change of cruise alt comes in -- it forces the system to see a flight plan change, and it then recomputes the appropriate PHASE. Once in, for example CLIMB PHASE, you could then engage an appropriate MANAGED MODE, such as CLIMB MODE.Does this make any sense? scott s..

Hi Scott, Yep that makes perfect sense, what was really confusing me was the fact that the FCOM tells you to activate flight plans etc etc, when all you need to do as Ian pointed out is re-enter the CRZ Alt. I'm enjoying delving into to whole Airbus philosophy but the Boeing FCOM's and QRH have it laid out a lot better. I used to have a computer based training application for the 330/340 wish I still knew where the CD's are.Thanks for the help everyone.

Ian could you point this out to me in the FCOM - It doesn't make sense to me in the situation I described. If I'm climbing out of 7000ft AGL my current CRZ alt in the MCDU is 35000FT for example, are you saying if I changed it to 34000FT the MCDU logic will exit APPR mode and Enter CLB? I explained I know I can force the aircraft "back" to cruise by re-entering a crz alt but no-where does it mention whilst in climb updating the crz alt will give you CLB MODE on the perf page. I guess I could have leveled off at 8000FT entered 8000FT as my Crz alt then continued under managed guidance. Strange it doesn't mention this in the FCOM, unless I've missed it? Thanks for sharing your knowledge, the Boeing & even MD11 FCOM's seem a lot clearer regarding many operational aspects.EDIT- I did find the info below from a Airberlin training guide. How to get out of Go Around phase ?The purpose of getting out of the Go Around phase is to obtain the proper target speed, and proper predictionsdepending upon the continuation of the flight as decided by the pilot.During the missed approach the crew will elect a strategy which it will indicate to the FMS (indeed the FMS is unable tochoose a strategy!…):- either come back and land ➜ ACTIVATE APPR PHASE,- or divert to an ALTN airfield. There are 3 possibilities to indicate this to the FMS:• the ALTN FPLN has been prepared⇒ Lat Rev at TO WPT + ENABLE ALTN,• the SEC FPLN has been prepared to a diversion airfield⇒ ACTIVATE SEC FPLN (HDG mode must normally be active).• Nothing has been prepared! Then select SPD 250 kt + OP CLB to initiate climb. Insert NEW DEST + CRZ FL;then finalize the diversion FPLN.The Go Around phase will automatically switch to CLB phase (or to appropriate phase - depending on altitude), andmanaged speed target is then initial climb speed.

Eek! you've asked me to find a reference for a little tid bit of Airbus info I've managed to gleam the hard way :(. I usually use this info to delight and impress the Captains I fly with as it's a little known 'feature', it's accompanied by a moderately interesting and mercifully short anecdote about rubbish ATC in Hamburg and a rushed departure leading to (you guessed it) being stuck in the GA/APPR Phase. Using my years of button pushing experience I starting entering any data into any field in the MCDU to try and get it out. What did it in the end was entering the CRZ Alt in the PROG page.With your example, you can't be in the APPR phase with a CRZ alt set in the MCDU. When you activate the approach the CRZ alt disappears (it doesn't make sense to have a cruise alt when you're on approach). That's also why entering a new CRZ alt makes the aircraft realise it's not making an approach any more so it comes out of the GA phase and the APPR phase.I've been told rebuilding the flightplan and performing a direct to will also do it, as previous posters have already said, but it didn't work on my way back from Hamburg.Sorry I can't give you an FCOM reference, I'm not much of a book worm, just sharing what happened to me.Take care,IanP.S. You're right, the Airbus documents are a bit of a minefield, don't even get me started on the MEL, that's even worse!

Thanks again Ian, all this started from using the incorrect T/O config! I definitely won't get complacent and skip the departure brief again :) Well I learnt something new and that's what this hobby's all about.Take care