A332, vicinity Melbourne Australia, 2013

A332, vicinity Melbourne Australia, 2013

Summary

On 8 March 2013, the crew of a Qantas A330 descended below controlled airspace and to 600 feet agl when still 9nm from the landing runway at Melbourne in day VMC after mismanaging a visual approach flown with the AP engaged. An EGWS Terrain Alert was followed by an EGPWS PULL UP Warning and a full recovery manoeuvre was flown. The Investigation found degraded situational awareness had followed inappropriate use of Flight Management System

Description

On 8 March 2013, the crew of an Airbus A330-200 (VH-EBV) being operated by Qantas on a scheduled passenger flight from Sydney to Melbourne unintentionally descended prematurely during an attempt by the crew to fly an approved visual approach in day VMC and activation of an Terrain Avoidance and Warning System (TAWS) 'PULL UP' Warning was followed by a full recovery climbing to 4000 feet. None of the 222 occupants were injured during that manoeuvre.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the ATSB. It was noted that the Captain had accumulated over 20,000 flying hours including approximately 2270 on the A330. The First Officer had accumulated just over 10,000 including approximately 1000 on the A330.

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