Date: 201304
Local time of day: 1801-2400
Location: ZZZ.ARTCC, US
Aircraft: Medium Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Aircraft component: Autoflight System
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: First Officer; Pilot Not Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Human factors: Communication Breakdown; Human-Machine Interface; Troubleshooting
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Manuals; Company Policy; Aircraft; Human Factors
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: While enroute at FL320 our autoflight and autothrottles kicked off. This was followed by a MACH TRIM FAIL message. This was then followed by a STAB OUT OF TRIM message. We slowed to M.77 while I got out the QRH. As soon as I got out the checklist the messages disappeared. We re-engaged the autopilot and autothrottles; but I kept the QRH out looking for what might have caused the failures when we received our descent clearance. As soon as we began the descent the autopilot and autothrottles kicked off again. We were receiving numerous aural warnings and messages. The Captain's data was lost and my information was raw data. The Captain handed the aircraft off to me as I had some guidance. I took control of the aircraft and the Captain began running checklists. We asked for and were granted relief by ATC for a descent and vectors; as we were operating in a degraded mode. The Captain talked to Maintenance Control and asked if they wanted us to divert to the Maintenance Station or continue to destination. We were told to continue to destination. The alert system was indicating a level two rudder limit fail message with a host of other messages. Our ACARS and NAV systems were inop; and at one point ATC lost our altitude readout. The Captain was sorting all this out as we were being vectored for approach as I was flying raw data. The Captain then ran the Emergency Non-alert Loss of Airspeed; Suspect; Erratic checklist; and switched to my side data. At this point we recovered airspeed and altitude indications. I elected to not use any automation for the remainder of the flight and we landed without incident. It was extremely difficult to sort through all of the messages and alerts. I am thankful we took our time and assessed the situation and prioritized the procedures that led to successful data recovery.After we got to the gate the Captain informed me that Operations Control kept sending us ACARS messages which we could not retrieve as our ACARS was locked out. They wanted to know if we were following the QRH procedures as that was all the information that Maintenance would provide us. I thought CRM teaches us to use ANY and ALL resources to assist in a difficult situation.




Synopsis: A flight crew was faced with multiple autoflight and flight instrument failures as they neared their destination. Effective use of on board resources eventually resolved the most serious and they landed safely. Limited Maintenance assistance was cited as a contributing factor to their sustained high workload.