Pilot error led to AirAsia flight bound for Malaysia landing in Melbourne

An AirAsia flight, carrying 212 people, departed Sydney bound for Kuala Lumpur, but was forced to land in Melbourne after the pilot entered the wrong starting coordinates for the flight. The crew was preparing for departure when the captain noticed that their was a problem with their ear protection, so they couldn't go on the ramp (the captain normally does the walk around, while the first officer handles the cockpit).

While entering the aircraft position, the pilot entered the Longitude as 15 degrees 19.8 minutes East, instead of 151 degrees 9.8 minutes East. This resulted in a positional error of 6,800 miles, making the aircraft think they were off the coast of Africa. Despite several audible warnings, the crew didn't catch the error until after takeoff. They asked to land in Sydney, without navigation aids, but weather was below minimums, forcing them to land in Melbourne.

www.cnn.com...

www.atsb.gov.au...

Probably the most fortunate kind of pilot error. Glad to know this didn't result in anything nastier. As fascinated as I am with aviation, I really don't like flying (unfortunate considering I moved to a volcano in the middle of the Atlantic).

I'm really curious about your feelings on completely computer-controlled commercial flights. Considering that this situation could've been avoided with a computer-dictaded pre-set route, are you of the opinion that there should always be someone behind the wheel?

I wonder why this is now news since it happened in march of 2015.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Just shows that pilots are humans too and make silly mistakes. Luckily no one was hurt, or worse.

I wonder how long it will take someone to claim this as a "Mandela effect"

a reply to: roadgravel

Because the ATSB released their final report.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: roadgravel

Because the ATSB released their final report.

It took a year to release this? Any ideas why it took so long?

a reply to: Revolvacron

There should always be a pilot in the cockpit. There will be situations that computers can't fix, whether it's reseting a circuit breaker, or taking command after a power failure. Computers can help a lot and can do wonders, but when it comes to Aviation having a pilot in the cockpit of a commercial flight is a very good idea.

a reply to: TerryDon79

It always takes a year or two to release a report. Usually two in the event of a crash. They have to go over all the maintenance records, CVR/FDR, ATC recordings.... That's a lot of data to go through, and they have to rule out every possible cause.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Just seems like an awfully long time for an "oops. We put in the wrong numbers" incident.

Granted, I don't know the procedures or anything for the NTSB, so it's just my uneducated opinion lol.

a reply to: TerryDon79

Yeah it does, but was it simply them putting in the wrong numbers, or did something break in the navigation system? Were there warnings in the cockpit? What were they? Did they say anything to ATC? What did they say to each other during the warnings?

It was a pretty simple error, but they can't just say that was the cause without looking at everything.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I'm guessing the pilots didn't admit to the error right away then? If they didn't, I can see the need for a thorough check, but if they admitted it, wouldn't the checks be redundant?

Am I just over thinking it? Or under thinking it?

a reply to: TerryDon79

They would, but if they even realized they did it, they'd still have to verify the navigation system didn't have any problems at the least. The pilot might not even have realized they did it.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Ah ok. I didn't really think of that. Makes sense if they didn't know they did it.

I'm going to say that my momentary dumbness was due to not enough alcohol.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Thanks for the detailed explanation, the MSM had spinned the news as the pilot flying to and landing in the wrong country

a reply to: manuelram16

Yeah, I read it on Flight first and it made sense. Then I saw the CNN headline and was like WTF.