AirAsia flight off by only 3,728 miles...

They just issued a major 'correction' to that article...

Seems it wasn't really true.

"Correction: Sept. 7, 2016, 8:58 a.m. EDT The Air Asia pilots made several errors in entering data into the aircraft’s navigation system, which caused them to follow an incorrect flight path out of Sydney, according to Australian transportation officials. An earlier version of this story mischaracterized what errors the pilots made. While troubleshooting the incorrect flight path, the pilots were unable to fix the issue, and may have compounded it. The aircraft’s systems would not allow the plane to be flown in instrument conditions and the weather also had deteriorated in Sydney by the time the pilots decided to turn back. They were directed via radar to a visual approach in Melbourne where they could land safely. The pilots did not believe the airport was located in Malaysia.

Air Asia pilots may want to consider an extended holiday after technical glitches led them to fly a passenger jet to the south-eastern Australian city of Melbourne instead of the (very different) South East Asian country of Malaysia."

 

This just looks like stupid reporting compounding a stupid mistake by the flight crew. Like how do we take something slightly dumb that ultimately was handled in a reasonably safe manner and make it seem totally outrageous and humiliating for the world to consume? "Pilots did not realize they were in Melbourne until after landing when they went to the nearest coffee shop and realized the barrista was speaking only in english."