A300
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; General Declared Emergency; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
Roughly 200 NM west of Destination at FL330; the autopilot and autothrottles disconnected. The FMA displays were blank; flight director disappeared and FCP panel indicators were frozen. No ECAM messages or warnings were displayed. Pilot flying hand-flew the aircraft while pilot not flying troubleshot the malfunction. Normal operation was restored briefly by switching ADC's and FD's; but the problem continued to repeat. We requested an early descent out of RVSM airspace due to the loss of autopilot/autothrottles. Center queried about the nature of our problem and the pilot not flying indicated that we did not need to declare an emergency at that time; but were experiencing some system failures. Since navigation capabilities were also degraded; we requested vectors to our current cleared fix. Center offered vectors direct to ZZZ VOR and I dialed in the VOR and established a direct course to the VOR. The pilot not flying continued to work the checklist and contacted Maintenance via radio for assistance. ATC then indicated that they had decided to declare an emergency for us and gave us vectors to destination. Troubleshooting efforts did not restore normal system operation. After completing the approach check; the pilot not flying (Captain) assumed control of the aircraft and First Officer switched to pilot not flying duties. Pilot flying flew an uneventful approach to a safe landing.During debrief with Maintenance they informed us that the airplane showed faults for FCC2; ADS1; FCC1; and FCU. I don't know what (if anything) could have been done differently to get these systems back before landing. However; I believe the crew made use of available resources and effective CRM to return the aircraft to destination without further incident.
A300 First Officer experiences auto flight anomalies at FL330 approaching destination. Autopilot and autothrottles disconnect; FMA displays blank; and FCP panel indicators freeze. Flight continues to destination for a normal landing with ATC assistance.