Procedural non-compliance - Embraer 120, VH-TWZ, Perth Airport, Western Australia, on 28 July 2011

On 28 July 2011, the crew of an Embraer EMB-120 ER Brasilia, registered VH-TWZ, were conducting an instrument approach at Perth, Western Australia in frontal weather conditions that included significant thunderstorm activity. At a time of high workload, the crew's situation awareness was compromised, resulting in the aircraft flight path being above the desired descent profile. An appropriate decision was made to discontinue the approach, but during the go-around the crew did not conform to the published missed approach procedure.

As a result of the incident, the operator advised the ATSB that it had taken the following safety actions:

• simulator retraining was conducted for the flight crew with specific focus on instrument flying skills and go around procedures
• a proficiency assessment was made after the retraining
• random monitoring of crews' ongoing performance from the jump seat during normal line operations was conducted
• incorporated aspects of the incident into recurrent simulator training for all EMB-120 ER crews
• a procedure to define removal from line, retraining and return to line has been developed for inclusion in the next edition of the Training and Checking Manual

This incident highlights the need for flight crews to be fully prepared for the go-around when it is required. As a go-around is not a regular occurrence, its preparation requires a complete knowledge of standard calls, sequence of actions, task sharing and cross-checking.