Watchdog brands missed landing as wake-up call
By Katrina Bolton, ABC Local
Watchdog brands missed landing as wake-up call
By Katrina Bolton, ABC Local
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found a missed landing by a Jetstar passenger aircraft happened after the first officer disengaged the autopilot to wake himself up.
The Airbus was flying from Darwin to Singapore in May 2010 when it missed its landing at Changi International Airport.
It had to circle and land on the second pass.
The investigation found pilot fatigue was a factor, and said that during the descent the captain was dealing with his mobile phone.
The report says that before flying the first officer only had about five hours sleep, broken by a call from room service, while the captain was twice woken by fire alarms.
It says the first-officer did not feel fatigued at the start of his shift but got tired during the descent, and reported disengaging the autopilot in order to wake himself up.
The report finds the pilots did not have the landing gear down properly or the wing flaps in the right position.
The aircraft.was just 500 feet from the ground when the landing was aborted.
No one was hurt in the incident and the report says Jetstar has since reviewed its procedures and made changes to its training.