Date: 201310
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: A320
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Initial Approach
Airspace: Class B ZZZ
ATC / advisory: Tower ZZZ
Aircraft component: Flap Control (Trailing & Leading Edge)
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain; Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Second reporter function: Pilot Not Flying; First Officer
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation - Speed All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Automation Aircraft Other Automation; Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew FLC Overrode Automation; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Human Factors; Aircraft
Primary problem: Ambiguous

Narrative: We were doing a visual approach and the weather was clear and there were light winds.  I was the Pilot Flying.  We were landing straight in and we were a little fast so I opted to extend the gear before the flaps.  After the gear was deployed I called for flaps in normal sequence.  We decelerated and the approach was normal.  By my estimation we were going to be stable by 1;000 feet.  When I called for flaps full the autothrust added a lot of power -- it felt like it was going all the way to climb power but I didn't have time to notice the actual N1.  Our airspeed was increasing rapidly towards flap overspeed.  Other than the autothrust behaving abnormally; all other indications were showing that we were flying a normal stable approach path so I pulled the thrust levers to idle to disengage the autothrust.  With me manually controlling the thrust; the plane began to decelerate again and we were stable by 500 feet.  However; in my haste to pull back the thrust levers I accidentally pulled the thrust reverse triggers and put the thrust levers into the reverse position.  I noticed this almost immediately and put the thrust levers back into the idle position.  The reversers did not deploy and we did not receive an ECAM message.  During all this I noticed that my First Officer seemed to be spending more time than normal getting the flap handle into the right position for flaps full.  After we landed I asked my First Officer if he saw anything that would've caused the unexpected thrust increase.  He said that when he reached down to select flaps full; he noticed that the flap indicator showed the flaps at only 1+F rather than 3 (the flap selector was at 3).  When he put the flaps to full; the indicator didn't move so he moved the flap  lever back to 1+F and then quickly re-selected each setting; 1; 2; 3; and full.  He said that the flaps then moved to full.  I didn't see any of this because I was hand flying the plane.  The plane was behaving normally as we went through the configuration changes for landing.  We didn't get any ECAM warnings.  The only abnormality I saw was the increase in thrust.  My First Officer said the thrust increased at the exact second he picked up the flap lever to move it from 3 to full; it happened before he re-selected Flaps 1.  We contacted Maintenance after the flight and had the flaps checked.  They found no defects.It is my understanding that in managed speed and approach mode the autothrust maintains S-speed when flaps are set to 1.  I am pretty sure that the power increased when the flaps went from 3 back to 1.  As Pilot Flying I had no idea that anything was out of the ordinary with the flaps.  When my First Officer reset the flap handle he didn't tell me.  If I would've known that there was an issue with the flaps I would've executed a go around.  I thought we were just seeing an autothrust malfunction or possibly a mode reversion.  Once I had the thrust in manual the aircraft decelerated and we were able to continue the approach normally.  I didn't know there was anything abnormal about the flaps until after we landed.  When we did the Before Landing Checklist I noticed the flaps were in full. This is a normal part of my scan before landing.  As for pulling the thrust levers over the reverse gate -- I did that by instinct.  I rarely fly with manual thrust and when I do I use the match and mash technique (as trained in my last sim session).  This was the first time in the aircraft that I disengaged the autothrust by pulling the levers to idle.  After 5 years of flying the Airbus it's hard to fight the habit of cracking the reverse when pulling the thrust levers from the climb detent back to idle.  All flap lever position changes need to be communicated.  Also; malfunctions on final approach need to be called out.   Final approach is not the place to try to fix a malfunction through a non-standard method.  Also; we need to practice flying with the autothrust off more often.


Second narrative: I was the Pilot Monitoring; flaps where at 3 and I verified they where at 3. Captain called for; 'flaps full Landing checklist.' I responded; 'Speed checked flaps full Landing checklist.' I lifted the flap selector handle and verified flap position; to my surprise they had self retracted to 1+F automatically. The aircraft engine spooled up to meet S speed. The Captain elected to disconnect autothrottles and fly manual due not knowing what was going on. I matched flap position 1+F and reselected each flap to full. Flaps deployed to full ok. On short final I heard a double click and realized that the Captain had turned off autothrottles and had clicked in reverse in flight. It was quickly fixed by him pushing the throttles forward of the gates and we landed soon after. Upon touchdown we received 2 ECAM messages.The events surrounding this are not entirely known. Maintenance met the aircraft and cycled the flaps and slats to verify correct position. Ops checked ok; and ECAM messages where cleared. This aircraft had just come out of C-check and this was the 1st revenue flight for the aircraft. The Captain realized he had clicked into the reverse gates out of habit of doing that on landing; and quickly fixed the issue. I didn't catch his error because I was working on the flaps self retracting to 1+F and the power quickly coming up to increase airspeed to S speed; in addition to me trying to communicate to him the problems that where unfolding. Upon landing; on the return flight; we received the same ECAM messages we had gotten [on the earlier flight]; Maintenance was notified.


Synopsis: A320 flight crew reports an unstabilized approach due to a flap anomaly. With the flaps selected to 3 and verified; the flying Captain calls for Flaps Full and the First Officer notes the flap indication to be 1+F. Flaps 1 through Full are reselected by the First Officer with the flaps responding normally. During this time autothrust responds with a large thrust increase and the Captain responds by disconnecting; with thrust levers to idle; then inadvertently selects reverse thrust. This is quickly corrected and the reversers do not deploy.