AirAsia X flight en route to Malaysia ends up in Melbourne after navigational error

An Australian aviation investigation report has revealed how an AirAsia X flight bound for Malaysia last year accidentally flew to Melbourne instead of its Asian hub after a navigational error.

The AirAsia X Airbus A330 was scheduled to fly from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur.

Australian authorities say the plane’s captain manually copied the gate coordinates displayed on sign outside the cockpit window into the flight management guidance system. As he accidentally omitted a zero, the system located the plane near Cape Town, South Africa.

Both the captain and the first officer heard several chimes as they prepared for takeoff. They chose to ignore the alerts because there were no other abnormal indications.

Immediately after takeoff, an audible alert sounded, warning of terrain in the plane’s flightpath. Not seeing any obstacles, the pilots ignored the warning.

The plane had already deviated from its supposed departure flight path and crossed the paths of other aircraft.

An airport traffic control officer noticed the deviation and contacted the pilots. Only then did they realize the GPS error on their navigation display.

The pilots requested permission to abort the flight and return to Sydney airport, but were unable to turn back due to deteriorating weather.

The captain then accepted the alternative route to Melbourne and manually flew the plane to the new destination.

AirAsia X told CNN that all of its aircraft have since been equipped with upgraded flight management systems to avoid repeating a similar mistake.
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