LONDON —  An ambulance crew ferrying a mental health patient between two nearby hospitals drove an extra 400 miles roundtrip because they relied on a faulty coordinates in their satellite navigation system.

The 10-mile trip within London should have taken less than half an hour. But the crew, having never driven to the destination before, relied only on the vehicle's GPS system. They didn't fathom that something was amiss until they had reached the outskirts of Manchester, more than 200 miles north of London.

The ambulance crew left King George's Hospital early Tuesday of last week and arrived at Mascalls Park Hospital in the afternoon. The London Ambulance Trust said the patent was remained comfortable and arrived safely.

The mishap doesn't surprise Daniel Callahan, an expert on technology and culture. He said reliance on GPS would inevitably lead people to ditch their maps and ignore road signs. GPS is so reliable, he said, that people might trust it more than their own judgment.

"It's very tempting to use technology to replace ordinary common sense," he said.

As far as the London ambulance crew is concerned, they won't be repeating the mistake: Officials said the coordinates for the hospital they were trying to reach had been corrected.

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