Qantas crew lost location while landing in Canberra: ATSB - ABC Online

Updated July 05, 2013 19:30:16

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says a Qantas flight crew momentarily did not know the plane's location while trying to land at Canberra Airport last year.

Last February, the Boeing 737 was flying from Sydney to Canberra in wet, cloudy and dark conditions.

Due to scheduled maintenance, the instrument landing system at Canberra Airport was not working so the flight crew made an alternate approach without vertical flight path information.

But the ATSB report found the automatic flight system was in the wrong mode.

The plane descended below the minimum safe altitude, causing the flight staff to lose awareness of where they were.

Once identified, the flight crew corrected the approach and landed safely.

But the ATSB says any loss of situation awareness increases the risk of a crash.

It says the incident highlights the importance of situational awareness and for crews to monitor their plane's flight profile when descending.

Topics: air-transport, act, canberra-2600

First posted July 05, 2013 14:12:53