What the profile screens for
Bank angle exceeds an aircraft- and height-specific monitoring band close to the runway or terrain.
Why it matters
High bank near the ground reduces clearance and lift margin and can precede wingtip, engine, terrain, or runway contact.
Build the event around relationships—not one number.
Define the operating context
Identify the approach / landing / go around state, aircraft configuration, location, and any required external data before applying logic.
Screen the signal relationship
Use validated combinations of roll angle, radio altitude, roll rate; avoid treating one isolated value as the whole event.
Confirm it is a genuine event
Check polarity, units, source, recording rate, dropouts, air/ground logic, persistence, and false-positive mechanisms.
Connect data to the safety question
Review procedures, reports, weather, airport and traffic context, exposure, recurrence, and the strength of the related barriers.
Recorded signals that may help explain the event.
Radio altitude
Height derived from radio altimetry, normally representing the distance from the aircraft to terrain directly below within the system's operating range.
Open parameter guide ↗ktCalibrated airspeed
Indicated airspeed corrected for instrument and position error, as provided by the aircraft data system.
Open parameter guide ↗degRoll angle
Aircraft bank attitude about the longitudinal axis.
Open parameter guide ↗Questions before conclusions
- Q1
Are roll angle, radio altitude, roll rate valid, correctly decoded, time-aligned, and sampled well enough for this event?
- Q2
What changed immediately before, during, and after the excessive bank at low height indication?
- Q3
How do aircraft configuration, weather, airport geometry, automation state, and crew reports change the interpretation?
- Q4
Which current flight manual, SOP, maintenance, or operator event definition controls the final conclusion?
Safety topics that broaden the event review.
Circling approach
Low-altitude maneuvering from an instrument procedure to another runway, with attention to protected area, visibility, bank, descent, and stabilization.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-040 · Aircraft control & automationUpset prevention and recovery
Prevention, recognition, and recovery from unintended pitch, bank, speed, or flight-path states approaching or exceeding normal operations.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-069 · Weather & environmentSand and dust operations
Operational effects of suspended sand, dust storms, brownout, contamination, erosion, low visibility, and engine or sensor exposure.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-070 · Weather & environmentLightning strike
Aircraft exposure to lightning and the resulting inspection, system, structure, communication, sensor, and dispatch considerations.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-071 · Human performance & CRMFatigue risk
Sleep loss, circadian disruption, workload, duty timing, recovery, commuting, and health factors that can reduce alertness and performance.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-073 · Human performance & CRMAeronautical decision-making
Framing choices, evaluating risk, managing uncertainty and bias, selecting action, and revising a plan when evidence changes.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-076 · Human performance & CRMOperational communication
Clear, timely, understood exchange of clearances, intentions, threats, decisions, status, and handovers across aviation teams.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-077 · Human performance & CRMMonitoring and cross-checking
Active verification of flight path, systems, automation, actions, data, and each other so deviations are detected and corrected early.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-078 · Human performance & CRMAuthority gradient
How rank, culture, expertise, confidence, and team climate affect challenge, speaking up, listening, and shared decisions.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-079 · Human performance & CRMDistraction and interruption
Loss or redirection of attention during a task, including interruption management, task resumption, sterile-flight-deck discipline, and error traps.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-080 · Human performance & CRMFitness for duty
Physical and psychological readiness for safety-critical work, including illness, medication, stress, impairment, fatigue, and self-reporting.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-093 · Ground operations & maintenanceRamp collision
Contact risk among aircraft, vehicles, equipment, structures, or people in congested ramp and stand environments.
Open topic profile ↗Windshear and Microburst
Recognize rapid changes in wind vector and the resulting airspeed, path, thrust, and vertical-energy effects close to the ground.
Open topic brief ↗Aircraft SystemsFlight-Deck Automation
Use mode awareness, active monitoring, and aircraft-response verification to keep automation aligned with crew intent.
Open topic brief ↗Flight OperationsControlled Flight Into Terrain
Understand how a controllable aircraft can be flown into terrain or an obstacle through path, altitude, navigation, monitoring, or situational-awareness breakdowns.
Open topic brief ↗12 useful starting points
Terminology and topic relationships select these links; the publisher source remains authoritative.
Further Preventing Loss of Control In-flight
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-060 — Stay Centered: Preventing loss of control during landing
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for approach and landing. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceStatistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, 1959–2024
Boeing's 56th annual statistical summary organizes commercial-jet accident data using stated definitions and the CAST/ICAO occurrence taxonomy.
Open official sourceIATA Annual Safety Report — 2024
IATA's 61st annual report provides an interactive, method-defined view of commercial aviation accident performance and contributing-factor classifications.
Open official sourceSAFO 14002 — SAFO 14002, Global Positioning System ( GPS )/Global Navigation Satellite System ( GNSS ) Navigator/Autopilot Compatibility
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation and navigation and surveillance. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 08005 — Preflight of helicopter hydraulic systems to include validation of control movement smoothness and identification of adverse flight control “stick-jump.”
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation and airworthiness and systems. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 08015 — Preflight check of helicopter hydraulic systems to include validation of control movement smoothness and identification of adverse flight control “stick-jump”
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation and airworthiness and systems. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 06017 — Equipment Training and Checking for Helicopter Operators on the SPZ-7000 or SPZ-7600 Dual Digital Automatic Flight Control Systems
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation and human factors. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 05002 — Multiple full deflection, alternating flight control inputs
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceA380 Development of the Flight Controls
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceDual Side Stick Inputs
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for flight controls and automation. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceInadvertent Autopilot Engagement during Takeoff on A220 Aircraft
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for takeoff and flight controls and automation. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official source