During a go-around at Aberdeen Airport, the aircraft descended from the go-around altitude for around a minute before subsequently climbing. The six crew members and all passengers were unharmed.
It is likely that the crew allowed the aircraft to descend without noticing after becoming overloaded by the high workload during the go-around. The high workload was due to a combination of factors: the requirements of flying the go-around manoeuvre manually; a larger than expected increase in thrust that led to a high pitch attitude and rate of climb; and the fact that non-standard go-around instructions were issued by ATC. Both pilots had experienced significant periods away from flying during the pandemic.
Following this event, safety action was taken by ATC at the airport in relation to go-around procedures; the operator, which issued guidance to its pilots and developed a relevant training package; and by the manufacturer which issued clarification on the behaviour of the autothrust system during go-arounds.
