Narrative:

40nm east of our destination we were given 'fly heading 250 descend to 600 meters.' this heading had us pointed toward the final waypoint to ilsz 35L. Approximately 10 miles east we were given heading 230. Approximately 5 miles east we were given heading 320 to intercept the final approach course. This heading was going to take us slightly inside and to the right of the waypoint. In the turn I selected navigation followed by approach land. Our course did take us slightly to the right and inside of the final waypoint. The waypoint was magenta and the active waypoint. As we passed abeam the waypoint; although close; it did not sequence and the aircraft began a left turn in the wrong direction. I disconnected the autoflight system and turned back to the right. The flight path was approximately one dot to the left of course and one dot high. Shortly thereafter we heard 'landing gear' approximately 3 times. I called go around due to the amount of confusion. The altitude window had remained set at our last assigned altitude of 600 meters. The missed approach altitude for 35L is 900 meters. The tower said 'fly heading 250 and maintain 1200 meters.' by the time I leveled off we were approximately 1500 meters and I began a descent back to 1200 meters and turned on the autopilot. We were then given vectors to fly the ilsz approach to 35L. The rest of the approach and landing was normal.everything was normal prior to the airplane starting a turn in the wrong direction. We were flaps 28; 180 knots and level at 600 meters. We were being vectored very close to the final approach course. During the turn from 230 to 320 had selected navigation turning through approximately 280. It was not clear at this time that our heading would take us slightly to the right and inside of the waypoint. After rolling out it was clear that heading 320 would take us slightly to the right of and slightly inside of the waypoint. Since it was the active waypoint it was necessary to clear the turn point. The turn point did not get cleared in time resulting in the aircraft beginning to turn in the wrong direction. I disconnected the auto flight system and turned right to intercept the localizer. We were approximately one dot high on the glideslope and one dot to the left of the localizer. At this time we heard 'landing gear' repeated approximately 3 times. There was too much confusion to continue the approach and I called 'go-around.' the missed approach altitude was not set in the altitude window because there was not an orderly interception of the glide slope. The gear did not get extended for the same reason; there was not an orderly flow to intercept the final approach course. The missed approach altitude is 900 meters. The tower told us to turn left to 250 and maintain 1200 meters. I exceeded our cleared altitude climbing to approximately 1500 meters before descending back to 1200 meters. We were then given radar vectors and completed a normal approach and landing to ilsz 35L.due to the close in vectoring during this approach I should not have selected navigation until it was clear where the aircraft would intercept the final approach course and I should have delayed the selection of navigation until after the turn point was cleared. Since there was so little time for all of these steps to be completed prior to intercepting the final approach course it would have been a better choice to simply remain in heading to intercept the localizer.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A fatigued MD-11 crew executed a go-around following confusion about the automation setup when the aircraft failed to capture the ILS localizer and improper FMS selections removed approach options.

Narrative: 40nm East of our destination we were given 'fly heading 250 descend to 600 meters.' This heading had us pointed toward the final waypoint to ILSZ 35L. Approximately 10 miles east we were given heading 230. Approximately 5 miles east we were given heading 320 to intercept the final approach course. This heading was going to take us slightly inside and to the right of the waypoint. In the turn I selected NAV followed by approach land. Our course did take us slightly to the right and inside of the final waypoint. The waypoint was magenta and the active waypoint. As we passed abeam the waypoint; although close; it did not sequence and the aircraft began a left turn in the wrong direction. I disconnected the autoflight system and turned back to the right. The flight path was approximately one dot to the left of course and one dot high. Shortly thereafter we heard 'landing gear' approximately 3 times. I called go around due to the amount of confusion. The altitude window had remained set at our last assigned altitude of 600 meters. The missed approach altitude for 35L is 900 meters. The tower said 'fly heading 250 and maintain 1200 meters.' By the time I leveled off we were approximately 1500 meters and I began a descent back to 1200 meters and turned on the autopilot. We were then given vectors to fly the ILSZ approach to 35L. The rest of the approach and landing was normal.Everything was normal prior to the airplane starting a turn in the wrong direction. We were flaps 28; 180 knots and level at 600 meters. We were being vectored very close to the final approach course. During the turn from 230 to 320 had selected NAV turning through approximately 280. It was not clear at this time that our heading would take us slightly to the right and inside of the waypoint. After rolling out it was clear that heading 320 would take us slightly to the right of and slightly inside of the waypoint. Since it was the active waypoint it was necessary to clear the turn point. The turn point did not get cleared in time resulting in the aircraft beginning to turn in the wrong direction. I disconnected the auto flight system and turned right to intercept the localizer. We were approximately one dot high on the glideslope and one dot to the left of the localizer. At this time we heard 'landing gear' repeated approximately 3 times. There was too much confusion to continue the approach and I called 'go-around.' The missed approach altitude was not set in the altitude window because there was not an orderly interception of the glide slope. The gear did not get extended for the same reason; there was not an orderly flow to intercept the final approach course. The missed approach altitude is 900 meters. The tower told us to turn left to 250 and maintain 1200 meters. I exceeded our cleared altitude climbing to approximately 1500 meters before descending back to 1200 meters. We were then given radar vectors and completed a normal approach and landing to ILSZ 35L.Due to the close in vectoring during this approach I should not have selected NAV until it was clear where the aircraft would intercept the final approach course and I should have delayed the selection of NAV until after the turn point was cleared. Since there was so little time for all of these steps to be completed prior to intercepting the final approach course it would have been a better choice to simply remain in heading to intercept the localizer.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.