Horrified passengers were left in fear after an Air France 11 suffered a "serious incident" on approach to a Paris airport.
Radio traffic from Air France Flight AF011 from New York heard pilots struggling to get the plane 's control to respond to them as the flight neared landing.
The Air France 11, a Boeing 777, was luckily able to land safely at Charles de Gaulle Airport on Tuesday morning after moments of tense panic in the cockpit.
This stomach-churning alarm was captured in recordings and shared by industry news site AirLive.
France's Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses, France’s air-crash authority, termed the incident “serious” and said on Twitter Wednesday that it is analyzing the flight data.
The BEA cited “instability of flight controls” in the final stages of the flight, as well as “hard controls” and “flight-path oscillations.”
The bureau confirmed it has opened a safety investigation and that information from the so-called “black box” flight data and cockpit voice recorders is being analysed.
On the cockpit recordings, pilots can be heard battling with resistant aircraft controls while emergency alarms sound.
Alerting air traffic controllers to the crisis , one pilot says, "Wait! Stop stop!" before adding "I'll call you back! I'll call you back!"
He later adds: “The airplane is pretty much going nuts.”
The air traffic controller responded: “I’ve seen on the radar, it swayed to the left.”
Air France said it “regrets the discomfort felt by customers”.
The plane managed to go-around at just 1,200 feet as ground control halted all departures.
After the crisis had passed, the pilot said: 'We went around following an issue with commands. The airplane didn't respond.
'We are ready to resume final approach with radar guidance. Please give us time to manage the situation, then guide us with tailwind."
Passengers described the horror of feeling "two or three sudden jolts" while onboard the flight.
Traveller Pierre-Loïc Jacquemin told BFMTV: "There were people shouting in the cabin.
He added: "Afterwards, the plane came back up.
"We circled for 10 minutes above the airport, and the second attempt was really gentle.
"We weren't jostled like the first one."
The plane managed to regain altitude to 4,000 feet and made a safe landing on runway 27R.
The airline confirmed a "technical incident" forced pilots to abort their landing sequence and perform a go-around before landing the plane normally.
A spokesman told AirLive: "A spokesman told the website: “Air France confirms that the crew of flight AF011 on April 4, 2022, from New York JFK to Paris-CDG aborted their landing sequence and performed a go-around due to a technical incident during the approach.
“The crew mastered the situation and landed the aircraft normally after a second approach. Air France understands and regrets the discomfort felt by customers.”
The widebody Boeing 777 is a mainstay of British Airways' long-haul fleet - with the airline operating 43 jets of this type.
