Story highlights Pilots abandoned attempt to fly to Malaysia after its pilot entered wrong coordinates of starting position, report says

The error caused the plane to track in the wrong direction after takeoff

When pilots decided to discontinue the flight, plane was diverted to Melbourne

(CNN) A flight to Malaysia from Sydney was diverted to Melbourne after its pilot entered incorrect coordinates of the plane's starting position, an Australian aviation investigation report has found.

Carrying 212 passengers, the AirAsia flight bound for Kuala Lumpur on March 10, 2015, was flying in the wrong direction after takeoff from Sydney, because the pilot had manually entered the wrong coordinates of the plane's position into the flight's onboard navigation systems.

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It was the first of several errors the flight crew made that day, according to the report (PDF) the Australian Transport Safety Bureau published Wednesday.

Faulty earmuffs prompted the captain and the first officer to swap their preflight duties. The captain usually conducts an external inspection, while the first officer remains in the cockpit to complete preparation procedures.

When manually entering the coordinates of the plane's position, the pilot incorrectly entered the longitude from a sign outside the cockpit window as 01519.8 east (15 degrees 19.8 minutes east) instead of 15109.8 east (151 degrees 9.8 minutes east), the report said.

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