NYC-Paris Flight Involved in 'Serious Incident'

A "serious incident' involving an Air France flight from New York to Paris is under investigation by French aviation safety investigators. On final approach to Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport on Tuesday, "the airplane was just kind of out of control," the pilot can be heard telling air traffic controllers on a recording. He said "the plane did just about anything," per France24. Passengers reported feeling a few "sudden jolts" and hearing shouting coming from the cabin, CNN reports. The Boeing 777 ascended, circled above the airport for about 10 minutes, then made another attempt at landing, this one more gentle. The plane landed safely.

In the recording, an alarm can be heard in the cockpit as the pilot says "stop, stop" and then, to air traffic controllers, "I'll call you back." The air traffic controllers tell him to "stop approach ... immediately." Afterward, the pilot explains there was "a problem with commands," so the crew decided to go back up and circle before trying again. An air traffic controller confirms he "saw the plane deviate to the left on radar" during the incident, the New York Post reports. Air France has so far described only "a technical incident during the approach," and the French aviation safety bureau BEA says an investigation is underway. The bureau says "instability of flight controls on final, go-around, hard controls, flight path oscillations" were involved. (More Air France stories.)