Jetstar said the plane’s pilots had reported that on approach an incorrect autopilot setting resulted in the aircraft going off its pre-determined track.
“This never put the aircraft in danger and the incident didn’t trigger any coughpit alerts. The pilots realised the error and corrected it promptly. Even if the error had not been corrected, the aircraft would still have landed safely,” Jetstar said.
Those words, about the aircraft not being in danger, were also advanced by a Jetstar spokesperson in relation to the
Singapore incident in which two pilots acted in a totally unsafe and unprofessional manner at the controls of a Jetstar A321 in 2010 which descended to less than 400 feet above the ground over Changi Airport without being properly configured for landing while the captain stuffed around with a mobile phone.
These words from Jetstar are also a lie. A very serious lie. While it might be accepted by many that the job of a media spokesperson is to lie, such an obvious lie needs to be challenged.
The approach to Queenstown airport is ‘demanding’. It involves descending below the height of encircling mountains and making a set of course changes that avoid the complex terrain while maintaining an ability for the flight to safely extricate itself from the consequences of an unintended loss of power both on approach and departure.
By definition busting a safe minimum altitude puts a flight at risk. It is why there is a minimum safe altitude, and it is why the ATSB is investigating.
