Summary
During preflight performance calculations, the crew of an Airbus A321 inadvertently referenced the performance chart for a longer runway length. That produced inappropriately high take-off reference speeds that would have adversely affected the operation of the aircraft in the case of an engine failure.
Jetstar Airways advised that they had reminded pilots to independently calculate take-off data and prohibited the use of bookmarking the performance manual. They also commenced an internal investigation.
The application of correct operating data is a foundational and critical element of flight safety, but errors in the calculation, entry and checking of data are not uncommon. The ATSB has published a research report that addresses this issue.
Occurrence summary
| Investigation number | AO-2011-073 |
|---|---|
| Occurrence date | 12/06/2011 |
| Location | Darwin Airport |
| State | Northern Territory |
| Report release date | 12/12/2011 |
| Report status | Final |
| Investigation level | Short |
| Investigation type | Occurrence Investigation |
| Investigation status | Completed |
| Mode of transport | Aviation |
| Aviation occurrence category | Aircraft separation |
| Occurrence class | Incident |
| Highest injury level | None |
Aircraft details
| Manufacturer | Airbus |
|---|---|
| Model | A321 |
| Registration | VH-VWX |
| Serial number | 3899 |
| Aircraft operator | Jetstar |
| Sector | Jet |
| Operation type | Air Transport High Capacity |
| Departure point | Darwin, NT |
| Destination | Denpasar, Indonesia |
| Damage | Nil |