B737-700 flight crew reported deviating from cleared track on approach to lax. Wake vortex concerns ...

Narrative:

We were following other carrier's boeing 777 for a planned seven-mile final. The captain had planned for a simulated aiii approach for training/currency. The captain was flying and we encountered some wake turbulence behind the B777; so captain elected to fly slightly above the descent path; asked if I agreed; and I concurred. We were vectored to final; first heading 150; and asked if we had the field; which we called in sight. Next vector was heading 220 to intercept final and cleared us the visual 24R. The captain stated we were slightly high due to the wake turbulence avoidance and began correcting. The autopilot was disconnected and we began to configure. The captain then asked to verify aiii mode. I went heads down; saw we weren't; and toggled to aiii. During this time; we overshot 24R final slightly and began an immediate correction. Simultaneously; approach control instructed us to fly a heading to re-intercept. I do not remember the assigned heading. The captain intercepted final and the remainder of the approach and landing were uneventful. Perhaps we could have asked approach for a slightly longer final as we remained above the 777 wake turbulence. As pilot monitoring; at the critical phase of flight; I could have focused solely on the intercept to final rather than going heads down.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-700 flight crew reported deviating from cleared track on approach to LAX. Wake vortex concerns and haze were contributing factors.

Narrative: We were following other carrier's Boeing 777 for a planned seven-mile final. The Captain had planned for a simulated AIII approach for training/currency. The Captain was flying and we encountered some wake turbulence behind the B777; so Captain elected to fly slightly above the descent path; asked if I agreed; and I concurred. We were vectored to final; first heading 150; and asked if we had the field; which we called in sight. Next vector was heading 220 to intercept final and cleared us the visual 24R. The Captain stated we were slightly high due to the wake turbulence avoidance and began correcting. The autopilot was disconnected and we began to configure. The Captain then asked to verify AIII mode. I went heads down; saw we weren't; and toggled to AIII. During this time; we overshot 24R final slightly and began an immediate correction. Simultaneously; Approach Control instructed us to fly a heading to re-intercept. I do not remember the assigned heading. The Captain intercepted final and the remainder of the approach and landing were uneventful. Perhaps we could have asked Approach for a slightly longer final as we remained above the 777 wake turbulence. As Pilot Monitoring; at the critical phase of flight; I could have focused solely on the intercept to final rather than going heads down.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

Attributes
ACN	1108286
Time
Date	201308
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	SCT.TRACON
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 389 Flight Crew Type 860
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 280
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter

B737-700 flight crew reported deviating from cleared track on approach to lax. Wake vortex concerns and haze were contributing factors.