Narrative:

On departure out of atl to the west, turning to assigned heading of 285 degrees, selected with 'heading select.' the heading mode deselected on its own and system went into 'control wheel steering.' being in a bank to turn to heading 285 degrees, the aircraft continued its turn to a northerly heading. As the PNF, I felt that in the hectic departure that we created by trying to program more on the FMC when we should have just done basic airmanship of flying heading and altitudes. We noticed the heading being off. I informed ATC immediately that we were turning back to assigned 285 degree heading. They immediately told us to turn back to a 270 degree heading and stop our climb at 7500 ft MSL. We complied and no TCASII alerts were activated and no traffic had to maneuver to avoid us. Then ATC assigned heading of 020 degrees and issued climb to 10000 ft. I feel that we should have been monitoring the autoflt system performance more closely and not try to perform too many tasks at once without first making sure the aircraft is being maneuvered along the proper flight path. Too much dependence was being expected from the autoflt system and not proper monitoring was the cause of our problem as I see it. Supplemental information from acn 467647: contributing factors were low time pilot in type and not monitoring flight director properly.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CLBING DEP ACR FLC FAILS TO NOTE THAT THE ACFT IS IN A SLOW TURN ON CTL WHEEL STEERING INSTEAD OF THE HDG ASSIGNED BY ATC NW OF ATL, GA.

Narrative: ON DEP OUT OF ATL TO THE W, TURNING TO ASSIGNED HDG OF 285 DEGS, SELECTED WITH 'HDG SELECT.' THE HDG MODE DESELECTED ON ITS OWN AND SYS WENT INTO 'CTL WHEEL STEERING.' BEING IN A BANK TO TURN TO HDG 285 DEGS, THE ACFT CONTINUED ITS TURN TO A NORTHERLY HDG. AS THE PNF, I FELT THAT IN THE HECTIC DEP THAT WE CREATED BY TRYING TO PROGRAM MORE ON THE FMC WHEN WE SHOULD HAVE JUST DONE BASIC AIRMANSHIP OF FLYING HDG AND ALTS. WE NOTICED THE HDG BEING OFF. I INFORMED ATC IMMEDIATELY THAT WE WERE TURNING BACK TO ASSIGNED 285 DEG HDG. THEY IMMEDIATELY TOLD US TO TURN BACK TO A 270 DEG HDG AND STOP OUR CLB AT 7500 FT MSL. WE COMPLIED AND NO TCASII ALERTS WERE ACTIVATED AND NO TFC HAD TO MANEUVER TO AVOID US. THEN ATC ASSIGNED HDG OF 020 DEGS AND ISSUED CLB TO 10000 FT. I FEEL THAT WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MONITORING THE AUTOFLT SYS PERFORMANCE MORE CLOSELY AND NOT TRY TO PERFORM TOO MANY TASKS AT ONCE WITHOUT FIRST MAKING SURE THE ACFT IS BEING MANEUVERED ALONG THE PROPER FLT PATH. TOO MUCH DEPENDENCE WAS BEING EXPECTED FROM THE AUTOFLT SYS AND NOT PROPER MONITORING WAS THE CAUSE OF OUR PROB AS I SEE IT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 467647: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE LOW TIME PLT IN TYPE AND NOT MONITORING FLT DIRECTOR PROPERLY.

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.