Narrative:

Flight from hnl to cairns, australia. Upon arrival at the aircraft, first officer initialized INS and loaded waypoints while I was briefing F/a's. When I returned I verified the initial position, but failed to recognize that east rather than west had been inserted. After takeoff I found that the information (navigation) was incorrect from the INS units. We checked all flight manuals and guides and found that we were unable to update with a correct position. We dumped fuel down to maximum landing weight and returned to hnl. After redispatching, realigning INS units and refueling, we took off again 1+20 late. Rest of flight was uneventful. The primary cause of this incident was the first officer putting incorrect direction into the INS units. Secondly, I failed in catching his error when I verified the position. Closer attention and additional xchk would have prevented the error. Supplemental information from acn 132349: improper crew coordination on the ground caused the late recognition of wrong coordinates.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: WDB ACR ACFT RETURNS TO DEP ARPT AFTER INS NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT SHOWS IMPROPER DEP COORDINATES WERE INSERTED.

Narrative: FLT FROM HNL TO CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA. UPON ARR AT THE ACFT, F/O INITIALIZED INS AND LOADED WAYPOINTS WHILE I WAS BRIEFING F/A'S. WHEN I RETURNED I VERIFIED THE INITIAL POS, BUT FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THAT E RATHER THAN W HAD BEEN INSERTED. AFTER TKOF I FOUND THAT THE INFO (NAV) WAS INCORRECT FROM THE INS UNITS. WE CHKED ALL FLT MANUALS AND GUIDES AND FOUND THAT WE WERE UNABLE TO UPDATE WITH A CORRECT POS. WE DUMPED FUEL DOWN TO MAX LNDG WT AND RETURNED TO HNL. AFTER REDISPATCHING, REALIGNING INS UNITS AND REFUELING, WE TOOK OFF AGAIN 1+20 LATE. REST OF FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL. THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THIS INCIDENT WAS THE F/O PUTTING INCORRECT DIRECTION INTO THE INS UNITS. SECONDLY, I FAILED IN CATCHING HIS ERROR WHEN I VERIFIED THE POS. CLOSER ATTN AND ADDITIONAL XCHK WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THE ERROR. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 132349: IMPROPER CREW COORD ON THE GND CAUSED THE LATE RECOGNITION OF WRONG COORDINATES.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.