Narrative:

Departing phx on the picah 5 SID. It directs an intercept of a radial, northwest of the tfd VOR, crossing tfd, and tracking outbound on the 133 degree radial. During departure, I was given step climbs and traffic calls. When I returned my attention to navigation, I momentarily thought I was south of tfd. Both vors were on phx. Normally I would have put the one I was not using on tfd, but I needed both on the phoenix VOR. When I noticed that I was about 7 NM south of the VOR, believing I was south of tfd, I initiated a turn to 133 degrees and started to select the radial. At that time I noticed the frequency of the VOR and immediately turned back to the 190 degree intercept heading. During the approximately 20 degrees of turn (to 170 degrees and back), an inbound aircraft approximately 5 NM east and heading northwest caused a TA warning from TCASII. Simultaneously, the departure controller asked our heading. I was already turning back to 190 degrees by the time both of these warnings had occurred. Remainder of flight uneventful. Contributing factors included the captain on the wrong departure SID page, so not monitoring my navigation and trouble locating traffic called to us. Perhaps the phx SID could be adjusted to not require both vors (one for tracking radial and one for defining passing the 350 degree radial for altitude restr) and go directly to tfd rather than intercepting an inbound radial to it. Both would lighten the workload.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR MD80 CREW FAILED TO EXECUTE THE 'PICAH 5' SID PROPERLY. ERROR ADMITTED. TCASII AND ARTCC PREVENTED A TFC CONFLICT. TRACK DEV.

Narrative: DEPARTING PHX ON THE PICAH 5 SID. IT DIRECTS AN INTERCEPT OF A RADIAL, NW OF THE TFD VOR, XING TFD, AND TRACKING OUTBOUND ON THE 133 DEG RADIAL. DURING DEP, I WAS GIVEN STEP CLBS AND TFC CALLS. WHEN I RETURNED MY ATTN TO NAV, I MOMENTARILY THOUGHT I WAS S OF TFD. BOTH VORS WERE ON PHX. NORMALLY I WOULD HAVE PUT THE ONE I WAS NOT USING ON TFD, BUT I NEEDED BOTH ON THE PHOENIX VOR. WHEN I NOTICED THAT I WAS ABOUT 7 NM S OF THE VOR, BELIEVING I WAS S OF TFD, I INITIATED A TURN TO 133 DEGS AND STARTED TO SELECT THE RADIAL. AT THAT TIME I NOTICED THE FREQ OF THE VOR AND IMMEDIATELY TURNED BACK TO THE 190 DEG INTERCEPT HDG. DURING THE APPROX 20 DEGS OF TURN (TO 170 DEGS AND BACK), AN INBOUND ACFT APPROX 5 NM E AND HEADING NW CAUSED A TA WARNING FROM TCASII. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE DEP CTLR ASKED OUR HEADING. I WAS ALREADY TURNING BACK TO 190 DEGS BY THE TIME BOTH OF THESE WARNINGS HAD OCCURRED. REMAINDER OF FLT UNEVENTFUL. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS INCLUDED THE CAPT ON THE WRONG DEP SID PAGE, SO NOT MONITORING MY NAV AND TROUBLE LOCATING TFC CALLED TO US. PERHAPS THE PHX SID COULD BE ADJUSTED TO NOT REQUIRE BOTH VORS (ONE FOR TRACKING RADIAL AND ONE FOR DEFINING PASSING THE 350 DEG RADIAL FOR ALT RESTR) AND GO DIRECTLY TO TFD RATHER THAN INTERCEPTING AN INBOUND RADIAL TO IT. BOTH WOULD LIGHTEN THE WORKLOAD.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.