A300
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 115; Flight Crew Total 9500; Flight Crew Type 2500
Confusion
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Aircraft Equipment Problem Dissipated; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; General Declared Emergency; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
Our flight was originally dispatched the night before with GEN 2 deferred; GEN 1 and APU operative.  We flew the first two flights in this aircraft.  Event flight was third flight after a layover.  On descent from FL240; cockpit lights started changing; numerous flight control warning lights came on and ECAM began describing mostly flight control failures caused by seeming electrical failures.  We had autopilots disconnected; dampers off; spoiler faults and pitch feel computer kicked off.  Captain hand flew direct to the airport; FO declared an emergency for possible impending electrical failure and began resetting computers and electrical systems.  Dampers did come back on but autopilots did not function correctly; so we continued flight for high speed; emergency recovery.  Several of the systems that the FO reset had to be reset more than once to remain on.  We had experienced minor electrical interruptions earlier in the flight but nothing that did not immediately clear according to normal operating procedures or without input from the crew at all.  When this situation occurred at start of descent; it was clear to us that possible further loss of electrical systems might result in more serious systems failures and therefore justified declaring an emergency and landing as soon as possible. We advised each agency of our emergency status and requested priority landing.  Throughout configuration; further electrical malfunctions did not occur; so we set up for normal configuration; visual approach (ILS was only available in raw data).  We also advised Tower that we would clear the runway on landing.  After clearing the runway; we contacted Ground Control; who had us taxi to our parking location. After shutdown; we debriefed the Fire Chief; the mechanic on scene and completed the logbook writeup.  The difficulty with our malfunction; of course; was the occurrence and reoccurrence of electrical faults causing flight control malfunctions.  The fact that most of the flight control issues cleared up on resets indicates that an electrical system malfunction is causing their failures and probably something in the remaining left generator system (or APU) was causing those failures.
The Captain was informed by Maintenance that problem was caused by a faulty generator number one contactor.
This emergency scenario ended without incident; but the significance begins with the initial flight the night before. Apparently; this aircraft recently returned from heavy check and may have had some IDG/electrical work done prior to our flight. After engine start and block; Gen #2 dropped offline after throttles pushed up for taxi. Gen reset and dropped offline again. Taxi stopped and Ramp Control was advised. They pushed us to call [Dispatch] and then we contacted [Maintenance Control]. [Maintenance Control] relayed that the IDG would be deferred. We questioned the deferral for this particular set of circumstances; but [Maintenance Control] relayed that this was in line with MEL guidance. We taxied into a vacant spot for Maintenance to work the deferral. Mechanic inferred that the electrical system had been worked on. No significant issues on the first leg. The last leg we had a quick flash of ECAM messages and some flags while on the ILS approach which went away before we could see what they were--seemed to be standard Airbus flux we have seen before. Landed without incident. After a layover; we flew the same aircraft. During the takeoff phase after V1; we once again experienced a quick flash of ECAM messages and some flags which once again quickly disappeared. The flight was uneventful until we began the descent for landing. Approximately 60 miles out; we had a barrage of ECAM messages and off flags along with autopilot disconnect after pitch and yaw paddles clicked off. Spoiler faults occurred as well. The First Officers ECAM and PFD screens momentarily went dark. Attempts to reset lost systems were with mixed results. Sometimes failures came back and other times the ECAM erased the issue altogether. No indication emerged long enough to complete corrective action. Autopilot could not be reset. Emergency was declared and Captain flew manually as fast as possible direct to the airport and landed without incident. Aircraft seemed to be back to normal during the last 10 minutes of flight.
A300 flight crew reports being dispatched with the number two generator inoperative and the APU running. On the first two legs momentary ECAM messages are noted but quickly clear on their own. On the final leg during descent; multiple ECAM messages appear with some remaining and others self clear. The First Officer's flight displays and ECAM screen blank momentarily and the autopilot and yaw dampers disengage. An emergency is declared and a normal landing ensues; with no anomalies during the last ten minutes of flight.