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Crj-200 first officer reported autopilot malfunction and lack of situational awareness caused a heading deviation.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1682557 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201909 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | COS.Airport |
| State Reference | CO |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200) |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | FMS/FMC |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types |
Narrative:
On climb out; we were flying the departure; climbing through FL180; and had been cleared direct to the jewls way point. We were subsequently directed to maintain present heading for traffic. The PF (pilot flying) selected heading (heading) mode with the autopilot on. The heading annunciation moved into the active position and turned green. However; at the jewls way point; the aircraft turned on course as though it was still in FMS (flight management system) mode. ATC queried us about whether we were still on our assigned heading or had turned at jewls. This is what prompted us to notice the discrepancy. We responded that we had turned on course and the controller had no further instructions for us. After this; we investigated and found the autopilot to still be indicating heading mode; but operating as though in FMS mode. PF had synced the heading; by habit; after the turn. We subsequently obtained a clearance direct to hys VOR; which was on our flight plan and proceeded with the flight with no further incidents. Of note: the FMS flashed the message: 'FMS-FMS disagree' momentarily immediately after this event and the two ahrs (attitude heading reference system) headings differed by 2 degrees throughout the flight. I suspect that the primary cause of this event is a malfunction with the automation. The secondary cause was lack of pilot awareness of whether the aircraft was functioning as expected/commanded. Pilots pay special attention to flight modes during off-schedule clearances such as this assigned heading.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: CRJ-200 First Officer reported autopilot malfunction and lack of situational awareness caused a heading deviation.
Narrative: On climb out; we were flying the departure; climbing through FL180; and had been cleared direct to the JEWLS way point. We were subsequently directed to maintain present heading for traffic. The PF (Pilot Flying) selected HDG (Heading) mode with the autopilot on. The HDG annunciation moved into the active position and turned green. However; at the JEWLS way point; the aircraft turned on course as though it was still in FMS (Flight Management System) mode. ATC queried us about whether we were still on our assigned heading or had turned at JEWLS. This is what prompted us to notice the discrepancy. We responded that we had turned on course and the Controller had no further instructions for us. After this; we investigated and found the autopilot to still be indicating HDG mode; but operating as though in FMS mode. PF had synced the heading; by habit; after the turn. We subsequently obtained a clearance direct to HYS VOR; which was on our flight plan and proceeded with the flight with no further incidents. Of note: the FMS flashed the message: 'FMS-FMS DISAGREE' momentarily immediately after this event and the two AHRS (Attitude Heading Reference System) headings differed by 2 degrees throughout the flight. I suspect that the primary cause of this event is a malfunction with the automation. The secondary cause was lack of pilot awareness of whether the aircraft was functioning as expected/commanded. Pilots pay special attention to flight modes during off-schedule clearances such as this assigned heading.
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.