Narrative:

Mitts STAR into lax, at night in the rain, at the end of a long day. This STAR is very steep and hard to make crossing restrs at best times. Controller kept slowing us to sequence on traffic in front of us. In spite of fact we were in and out of rain, controller insisted we must 'see' B737 about 2 mi ahead or be broken out. I elected to tell her to resequence us. We were only about 6-7 mi from runway on final. She turned us north and issued climb to 2500 ft. Then the fun began. I advanced throttles to toga momentarily to go to 'go around' mode, but only retarded them to 'flx takeoff,' the first detent, not 'climb,' the 2ND detent. Of course that locked the engines at toga thrust and we accelerated like a bullet because we only had to climb a couple hundred ft. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, controller was giving us all kinds of instructions, I was off altitude, heading, speed, engine thrust was maximum on idle as I would turn off autothrottles, close throttles, regain control, re-engage autothrottles, go to toga. It was a mess. Technology ate me alive and I couldn't figure out why. Finally first officer says you're not in 'climb' detent. Placed throttles in 'climb,' re-engaged autothrottles, autoplt interrupted the localizer and made safe landing. I was tired. WX was bad. We were in lax. I was trying to fly narrow parameters issued by controller. I was in and out and partly in, partly out of automation, first officer was giving me advice, went into information overload. This event lasted about 2 mins but it seemed like 2 hours.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AIRBUS CREW ON APCH TO LAX ON MITTS ARR REQUESTED RESEQUENCE FROM CTLR. RESULT WAS SPD, ALT, AND HEADING DEVS WHEN AUTOTHROTTLE WAS USED INCORRECTLY.

Narrative: MITTS STAR INTO LAX, AT NIGHT IN THE RAIN, AT THE END OF A LONG DAY. THIS STAR IS VERY STEEP AND HARD TO MAKE XING RESTRS AT BEST TIMES. CTLR KEPT SLOWING US TO SEQUENCE ON TFC IN FRONT OF US. IN SPITE OF FACT WE WERE IN AND OUT OF RAIN, CTLR INSISTED WE MUST 'SEE' B737 ABOUT 2 MI AHEAD OR BE BROKEN OUT. I ELECTED TO TELL HER TO RESEQUENCE US. WE WERE ONLY ABOUT 6-7 MI FROM RWY ON FINAL. SHE TURNED US N AND ISSUED CLB TO 2500 FT. THEN THE FUN BEGAN. I ADVANCED THROTTLES TO TOGA MOMENTARILY TO GO TO 'GAR' MODE, BUT ONLY RETARDED THEM TO 'FLX TKOF,' THE FIRST DETENT, NOT 'CLB,' THE 2ND DETENT. OF COURSE THAT LOCKED THE ENGS AT TOGA THRUST AND WE ACCELERATED LIKE A BULLET BECAUSE WE ONLY HAD TO CLB A COUPLE HUNDRED FT. I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG, CTLR WAS GIVING US ALL KINDS OF INSTRUCTIONS, I WAS OFF ALT, HEADING, SPD, ENG THRUST WAS MAX ON IDLE AS I WOULD TURN OFF AUTOTHROTTLES, CLOSE THROTTLES, REGAIN CTL, RE-ENGAGE AUTOTHROTTLES, GO TO TOGA. IT WAS A MESS. TECHNOLOGY ATE ME ALIVE AND I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHY. FINALLY FO SAYS YOU'RE NOT IN 'CLB' DETENT. PLACED THROTTLES IN 'CLB,' RE-ENGAGED AUTOTHROTTLES, AUTOPLT INTERRUPTED THE LOC AND MADE SAFE LNDG. I WAS TIRED. WX WAS BAD. WE WERE IN LAX. I WAS TRYING TO FLY NARROW PARAMETERS ISSUED BY CTLR. I WAS IN AND OUT AND PARTLY IN, PARTLY OUT OF AUTOMATION, FO WAS GIVING ME ADVICE, WENT INTO INFO OVERLOAD. THIS EVENT LASTED ABOUT 2 MINS BUT IT SEEMED LIKE 2 HRS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.