Narrative:

During taxi-in; after engine cool-down; the first officer shut down the number two engine and delayed starting the APU to maximize fuel savings and to facilitate a safer taxi-in and shutdown. I was asked and confirmed I was 'off' the brakes and steering. After I heard two electrical switchover's and an appropriate amount of time elapsed; I then applied braking and after one to two seconds; brakes locked up abruptly and started chattering. I released the brakes and maintained steering; the aircraft slowed during the lockup but did not fully stop. Shortly thereafter were heard a third loud and slow electrical click and switchover (possibly the APU generator) and the braking stopped. After confirming that we had regained braking and still had nose wheel steering we elected to slowly taxi into the gate and parked without further incident. After shutdown and securing without further incident; we had no ECAM messages; no relevant status messages and a post flight revealed no damage to the braking or wheels. A line mechanic was present and we briefed him and the inbound crew on the incident. A deadheading crew also discussed the incident and relayed to me that apparently it was a common occurrence. Further research of the pilot handbook; MEL; and fom/ph bulletins did not reveal any further information at the time. Since there was no damage; no ECAM or status messages; and it appears to be a airbus systems issue we did not do a writeup in the logbook.it is possible that a bscu fault during delayed generator switchover caused a brake lockup. Company should communicate problems with bscu caused brake lockups more clearly to pilots during training. Previously I have graduated twice from the full course A320 training program where older bscu faults and problems were clearly part of the training and normal SOP and procedures for actions and corrections during bscu taxi faults were part of the curriculum. Since the bscu revisions and the occurrence of these newer bscu faults (which are apparently commonplace); no guidance or corrective input to pilots on this particular bscu problem is included in the full course training program which I just completed; nor could I find reference to it in any current memos; read files or bulletins.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 Captain experienced unusual braking behavior during an unexpected electrical switchover. No anomalies were noted and the aircraft was taxied to the gate.

Narrative: During Taxi-In; after engine cool-down; the First Officer shut down the number two engine and delayed starting the APU to maximize fuel savings and to facilitate a safer taxi-in and shutdown. I was asked and confirmed I was 'off' the brakes and steering. After I heard two electrical switchover's and an appropriate amount of time elapsed; I then applied braking and after one to two seconds; brakes locked up abruptly and started chattering. I released the brakes and maintained steering; the aircraft slowed during the lockup but did not fully stop. Shortly thereafter were heard a third loud and slow electrical click and switchover (possibly the APU generator) and the braking stopped. After confirming that we had regained braking and still had nose wheel steering we elected to slowly taxi into the gate and parked without further incident. After shutdown and securing without further incident; we had no ECAM messages; no relevant STATUS messages and a post flight revealed no damage to the braking or wheels. A Line Mechanic was present and we briefed him and the inbound crew on the incident. A deadheading crew also discussed the incident and relayed to me that apparently it was a common occurrence. Further research of the Pilot Handbook; MEL; and FOM/PH bulletins did not reveal any further information at the time. Since there was no damage; no ECAM or status messages; and it appears to be a Airbus systems issue we did not do a writeup in the logbook.It is possible that a BSCU fault during delayed generator switchover caused a brake lockup. Company should communicate problems with BSCU caused brake lockups more clearly to pilots during training. Previously I have graduated twice from the full course A320 training program where older BSCU faults and problems were clearly part of the training and normal SOP and procedures for actions and corrections during BSCU taxi faults were part of the curriculum. Since the BSCU revisions and the occurrence of these newer BSCU faults (which are apparently commonplace); no guidance or corrective input to pilots on this particular BSCU problem is included in the full course training program which I just completed; nor could I find reference to it in any current memos; read files or bulletins.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.