Originally Posted by
RAT 5
IC. I'm with you. Rather than focusing on the what they did, yes/no, it'll help us more to find why & how. This is quite a new a/c. If there is a glitch in the automatics, or the human interface, or a misunderstanding of the nav system then we can all learn from it; even the manufacturer. If it was a case of mistaken identity and a crew rushing, then we need to know. What strikes me is that JUHU is just over the beach, while their true target is much further inland. Clue 1. We have to assume that the turn off course was manual and because of a visual target; otherwise why would you? Once they were pointing at JUHU the vertical guidance on the MAP display must have been interesting. Given the displacement of JUHU off their target centreline this suggests a lack of confidence in the navigation set up for their initial approach. I'd assume that BEWARE of JUHU would be in an approach/airfield brief. Surely? And in this day & age of RNAV approaches who would expect to be so far off track on final approach? Surely that thought would ring bells and ask questions. Bad smoggy vis at Mumbai is well known, so diving off track at an early DME could be deemed a little precipitous.
Coworkers have been frustrated at a FMC/RNAV approach that lines up with the edge, or slightly outside the edge, of the runway at one of our airports. A 16-17 degree turn, on a 3-4 mile final, is a completely different ballgame.
This event is not a normal everyday occurrence. But I’d guess that every professional pilot has picked up the wrong visual ques more than once in their career. Some catch it early enough and never bite at the wrong choice, some catch it shortly after they deviate from the desired flight path, and some catch it later. Debrief it and move on. Don’t be surprised if it gets discussed in recurrent training.