Failure to manage an onboard computer fault has been blamed for an Air Asia plane flying too low into Perth, with the pilots "distracted" at critical stage of the approach, an Australian Transport Safety Bureau report has found.
During a flight carrying 102 people from Denpasar to Perth on February 19, 2016 the captain's flight management guidance computer failed, so the crew used the first officer's duplicate systems.
Upon arrival to Perth, the crew began an instrument landing system approach, but relied on data from the failed computer.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said the flight crew had a limited understanding of how the computer failure affected the aircraft's automation during the approach, which resulted in increased engine thrust and prompted a go-around.
A non-precision instrument approach was then conducted during a descent to a different runway, due to increasing crosswind, but the crew could not see the runway and focused attention outside the plane.
The approach controller received a "below minimum safe altitude" warning and instructed the crew to conduct a go-around. They then landed safely.
The unresolved system failures, the go-around and runway change, combined with the crew's unfamiliarity and preparation for an instrument approach, meant they did not effectively manage the descent during that approach, the report found.
"The flight crew's focus of attention outside the aircraft distracted them during a critical stage of flight," the ATSB said.
"The crew did not detect that they had descended the aircraft below the specified segment minimum safe altitude."
PT Indonesia AirAsia has since implemented additional classroom sessions on aircraft line-check into the re-training program and incorporated the incident in the simulator syllabus.
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