Narrative:

During cruise it was noted that the #3 ir (inertial reference) was in att mode and was not aligned. As the non-flying pilot I used the communication nav abnormal section procedures to attempt to align the #3 ir. After reading through the procedure I reached up to turn the #3 ir to att; I made an error and selected #2 ir to att. We lost autopilot; auto thrust and the nd on the right side. As the captain; I was required to take control; hand fly the aircraft; the first officer attempted to regain the alignment. After attempting to align both #3 ir and #2 ir it was decided to except the condition in alternate law. We advise ATC we needed to descend out of rvsm to FL280 and were no longer had RNAV capability. There were no deviations of altitude or navigation. I hand flew the aircraft to a visual approach and landing. Other than a higher work load; all operations were normal. There was reluctance to descend because of the limited fuel on board. A deviation was considered. We arrived in our destination with 3;500 pounds on board. If there was a go-around we would have landed with 1;500 pounds. After arrival a complete shut down and realignment was accomplished. All systems appeared normal. Log page contains the info only write up. The captain did not use CRM to have the first officer verify the correct ir to be selected to att. I would suggest additional training on the selection of ir att in-flight and the downside if the wrong ir is selected.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A319 flight crew departed with the #3 IRU in the ATT position and unaligned. While meaning to select the #3 IRU to ALIGN the Captain inadvertantly selected #2 IRU to ATT causing autothrust; autopilot; and right side ND to lose its IRU input. The aircraft was descended out of RVSM airspace in alternate law.

Narrative: During cruise it was noted that the #3 IR (Inertial Reference) was in ATT mode and was not aligned. As the non-flying pilot I used the COM Nav abnormal section procedures to attempt to align the #3 IR. After reading through the procedure I reached up to turn the #3 IR to ATT; I made an error and selected #2 IR to ATT. We lost autopilot; auto thrust and the ND on the right side. As the Captain; I was required to take control; hand fly the aircraft; the First Officer attempted to regain the alignment. After attempting to align both #3 IR and #2 IR it was decided to except the condition in Alternate Law. We advise ATC we needed to descend out of RVSM to FL280 and were no longer had RNAV capability. There were no deviations of altitude or navigation. I hand flew the aircraft to a visual approach and landing. Other than a higher work load; all operations were normal. There was reluctance to descend because of the limited fuel on board. A deviation was considered. We arrived in our destination with 3;500 pounds on board. If there was a go-around we would have landed with 1;500 pounds. After arrival a complete shut down and realignment was accomplished. All systems appeared normal. Log Page contains the Info Only write up. The Captain did not use CRM to have the First Officer verify the correct IR to be selected to ATT. I would suggest additional training on the selection of IR ATT in-flight and the downside if the wrong IR is selected.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.