Created Thursday, Jun 4th 2026 12:11Z, last updated Thursday, Jun 4th 2026 12:11Z
A DHL Air Boeing 767-300, registration G-DHLS performing flight D0-3999 from Keflavik (Iceland) to East Midlands,EN (UK) with 1 passenger and 2 crew, was enroute at FL350 over Scotland (UK) when the crew received an EICAS caution message concerning the autopilot, at the same time ATC instructed the crew to turn onto a radar heading. The pilot flying (PF, first officer) selected heading mode, however, the aircraft did not turn as expected and also did not turn after another autopilot had been engaged. The PF then disengaged the autopilot and found, that there was little if any movement of the yoke in roll, neither crew had roll control although control was possible in pitch and yaw. The commander declared MAYDAY and requested a descent to FL200. During the descent the crew discussed the checklists for jammed controls, the captain requested the passenger (another pilot in the jumpseat) to check the circuitbreakers, none had popped. After levelling off at FL200 the crew worked the checklist for restricted flight controls instructing to overpower the restricted/jammed system with maximum combined force, and combining their forces managed to break the roll control free, thereafter normal roll control was possible. The first officer described that he felt something breaking free and roll control returned to normal. The aircraft continued to East Midland for a normal landing.
The British AAIB released their final Bulletin concluding the probable causes of this serious incident were:
During the flight from Iceland, it was likely that ice formed on the aileron control system, restricting movement in roll. Despite extensive inspections of the aircraft, it was not possible to identify the source of any water/fluid nor where it had formed ice to create the jam. The crew handled the emergency well with good planning, briefing and co-ordinating throughout the event. They were able to successfully release the jam using the actions in the QRH and the aircraft landed safely without further incident.
The AAIB analysed:
About 1:30 hours into the flight from Keflavik to East Midlands an Autopilot caution warning was triggered and the crew of G-DHLS found that they were unable to make aileron control inputs either manually or using the autopilot, due to what appeared to be a control jam.
After descending to FL200, the crew were able to free the controls by jointly applying force in the same direction on the control wheel. The rest of the flight continued without further incident and with both manual and autopilot controls functioning normally. Post-flight checks identified no physical faults, restrictions or damage in the lateral control system. There was also no evidence that any override in the system had been activated during the flight. The investigation concluded that it was likely ice had formed somewhere on the aileron control system and this had restricted movement of the pilots’ controls and notably the left aileron.
