Thai A350 descended below 670ft while still far from Frankfurt runway
German investigators have detailed an approach incident in which a Thai Airways Airbus A350-900 descended to less than 670ft above ground while still nearly 6.5nm from touchdown at Frankfurt Main.
The aircraft (HS-THF) had been inbound from Phuket, at night but in good visibility, on 1 January.
While descending through 7,300ft, the crew was instructed to increase the descent rate. Approach control subsequently clearing the flight to 3,000ft and then to a heading of 040°, at 170kt or faster, to conducted the ILS approach to runway 07R.
German investigation authority BFU states that the crew started extending flaps at 6,000ft and lowered the landing-gear at 5,100ft.
At this point the A350’s rate of descent was around 2,000ft/min, and the rate of descent “increased con...