Almost a loop is very exaggerated.
"During the approach to Paris Orly, in good weather conditions, the aircraft suddenly started to climb adopting a steep pitch attitude and stalled. The crew managed to recover control of the aircraft and came round to land."
Seem to remember the captain was a former BAC 1-11 driver and the trim button on the A-310 was in the same position where the autopilot disconnect is on the BAC 1-11. Reverting to old airplane habits led to full nose-up trim on the A-310.
http://www.bea-fr.org/docspa/1994/yr...-a940924a.html
Here are the conclusions for those who want the short version.
"# The flight crew was properly licensed to conduct the flight. A third pilot undergoing familiarization was in the observer's seat.
# The meteorological conditions were excellent.
# The aircraft was normally certified and maintained. No non-availability of equipment (with the exception of the FDR) was noted. Ground checks after the incident, and subsequent flights of the aircraft showed no evidence of any operating anomaly.
# The Captain, at the controls, started an automatic approach.
# Approach control asked the aircraft to shorten its path, which led to ILS interception closer to the runway than provided for by standard procedure.
# According to the systems logic, the glide, encountered before the localizer, was not automatically captured . The Captain then disconnected both automatic pilots, leaving the auto-throttle in operation.
# An altitude of 4,000 feet was selected before establishment of the aircraft on ILS as go around altitude. The go around altitude in the procedures is 2,000 feet.
# When flaps were selected at 20 degrees, the speed was slightly greater than VMAX, which activated speed protection, leading to reversion of VS mode to LVL CHG mode.
# Due to the altitude selected being greater than that of the aircraft, the auto-throttle commanded an increase in thrust. The pilot maintained the aircraft on descent.
# He accidentally caused the trim to its electrical stop at thirteen degrees nose up, which put the aircraft in a totally out of trim situation.
# To counter the effect of THS deflection, he moved the elevator control to its mechanical stop of fifteen degrees nose down, by effort applied on the control column.
# A sudden increase in thrust was commanded manually.
# Under the effect of the additional force, the aircraft pulled up rapidly. The pilot continued to counter by continuous effort on pitch and by temporarily holding the thrust levers in the idle position. He neither corrected trim, which remained on pull-up stop nor disconnected the auto-throttle.
# The aircraft took a path with a very steep slope, with roll angle reaching extremely high values. It climbed to an altitude of 4,100 feet and minimum speed recorded was 35 kt. Alpha-trim protection reduced the THS deflection by four degrees.
# Under the effect of strong drift on full and rapid rolls, the angle of attack sensors were disturbed, which led to automatic disconnection of the two pitch-trims. The auto-throttle was inhibited for the same reasons.
# Due to the dynamic of the aircraft's movements, the stall warning and the stick shaker did not function in a preventive manner.
# The flight crew regained control of the aircraft after the stall."