ATSB investigates Virgin Australia 737 incident

The ATSB is investigating an incident in which a Virgin Australia 737-800 was incorrectly flown toward its cruising altitude at a fixed mach value, causing the airspeed to decline toward a loss of control situation is under investigation by. The ATSB states: “On 4 January 2013, a Boeing 737-8FE aircraft, registered VH-VUZ, was operating a scheduled passenger service from Launceston, Tasmania to Melbourne, Victoria. Soon after takeoff, the auto-flight system was selected to Level Change mode. In this mode, the aircraft climbed at a constant airspeed to about flight level 260, when the auto-flight system sequenced automatically to continue the