An AirAsia flight en route to Malaysia made an emergency landing in Melbourne due to pilot error.
A flight from Sydney to Malaysia had to be rerouted to Melbourne after the pilot incorrectly input the aircraft’s initial coordinates, as reported by Australian aviation investigators.
The AirAsia flight, carrying 212 passengers, was headed for Kuala Lumpur on March 10, 2015, but veered off course after takeoff from Sydney due to the pilot entering wrong coordinates into the aircraft’s navigation system.
The flight crew made multiple mistakes that day, as outlined in a report published Wednesday by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Due to faulty earmuffs, the captain and first officer swapped their preflight responsibilities. The captain typically performs the external inspection, while the first officer stays in the cockpit to complete preparatory tasks.
While manually entering the aircraft's coordinates, the pilot mistakenly typed the longitude from a sign outside the cockpit as 01519.8 east (15 degrees 19.8 minutes east), instead of 15109.8 east (151 degrees 9.8 minutes east), according to the report.
This error resulted in a miscalculation of over 11,000 kilometers (6,835 miles), disrupting the aircraft’s navigation and alerting systems, the report states.
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The crew had several chances to detect and correct the mistake, but failed to do so until after the plane took off and began veering off course. Multiple alerts and warning sounds pointed to the error before takeoff, but the crew disregarded them, the report found.
After realizing the error, the captain and first officer attempted to fix the system, but it was already too late.
The report explained, 'Efforts to address and resolve the issue only caused further damage to the navigation system, as well as to the flight guidance and control systems of the aircraft.'
As the systems continued to fail, the crew requested to return to Sydney for an emergency landing without navigation systems. However, adverse weather conditions in Sydney led to the decision to land in Melbourne instead.
The aircraft remained on the ground in Melbourne for three hours before eventually resuming its flight to Kuala Lumpur.
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In a statement provided to Dinogo, AirAsia X confirmed that all aircraft have been outfitted with upgraded flight management systems following the incident.
A representative from AirAsia X emphasized, 'We have implemented strong management systems to oversee operations and prevent similar incidents from occurring.'
'We would also like to reaffirm that we consistently pass safety and security audits conducted by various international authorities. Our commitment to maintaining compliance with all safety and security standards remains unwavering,' the representative added.
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