Narrative:

Immediately upon rotation; we had a #2 bus power fail and #2 unparallel light and the left emergency bus fail. We lost all the captain's instrumentation and partial first officer instruments and the autoplt. I; the first officer took over flying duties while the captain ran checklist with the engineer. I leveled off at 5000 ft and notified ATC we needed to stay at 5000 ft; and get vectors around ZZZ for possible return to ZZZ. While being vectored; the controller wanted us to turn to a 010 degree heading. A few mins later while attempting to turn to 010 degrees at a minimum bank angle due to lack of instrumentation; the controller told us we were flying eastbound; and that she told us to fly 010 degrees. At that point we discovered all the first officer instrumentation was faulty. We could see the airport and oriented ourselves with the airport and began using the whiskey compass and standby attitude indicator only. Eventually we were able to get all instrumentation back and continue our flight. Upon maintenance inspection; it was discovered there was some mis-wiring of the flight instruments. The first officer side instruments should never have been affected.supplemental information from acn 735935: the next several mins of the flight were flown on standby instruments (attitude and wet compass) until the problem was resolved and the flight continued to the destination. Our initial response to the abnormality was good. However; aircraft control; checklist completion and ATC communication suffered until proper radio configuration was established. The first officer's speaker was turned on so the rest of the crew could hear ATC. Because of this initial confusion; the first officer was flying pilot and handled the radios. Aircraft maintenance control was advised of the abnormality of the event and found the aircraft to be incorrectly wired. Corrective action was taken by maintenance. It is my opinion that all DC8 aircraft should be inspected for this mis-wiring. If VMC would not have been prevalent within mins of our destination our only option would have been to fly an ASR or PAR approach. Such an emergency procedure should not be required to resolve a generator failure on a 4 engine jet.callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated that his air carrier completed a major retrofit on their DC8 fleet and it is unknown whether this electrical wiring error is present in the entire flight or confined to this aircraft. The reporter was talked with his air carrier's safety department; pilot's safety rep; and maintenance personnel. All parties agree about the severity of this assumed mis-wiring. Reporter is unsure if air carrier will pursue a full scale investigation because it may not be in their financial interests to do so.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A DC8 RPTS THE LOSS OF #2 GEN AFTER TKOF RESULTING IN ALL OF THE CAPT'S FLT INSTRUMENTS AND SOME FO FLT INSTRUMENTS FAILING.

Narrative: IMMEDIATELY UPON ROTATION; WE HAD A #2 BUS POWER FAIL AND #2 UNPARALLEL LIGHT AND THE L EMER BUS FAIL. WE LOST ALL THE CAPT'S INSTRUMENTATION AND PARTIAL FO INSTRUMENTS AND THE AUTOPLT. I; THE FO TOOK OVER FLYING DUTIES WHILE THE CAPT RAN CHKLIST WITH THE ENGINEER. I LEVELED OFF AT 5000 FT AND NOTIFIED ATC WE NEEDED TO STAY AT 5000 FT; AND GET VECTORS AROUND ZZZ FOR POSSIBLE RETURN TO ZZZ. WHILE BEING VECTORED; THE CTLR WANTED US TO TURN TO A 010 DEG HEADING. A FEW MINS LATER WHILE ATTEMPTING TO TURN TO 010 DEGS AT A MINIMUM BANK ANGLE DUE TO LACK OF INSTRUMENTATION; THE CTLR TOLD US WE WERE FLYING EBND; AND THAT SHE TOLD US TO FLY 010 DEGS. AT THAT POINT WE DISCOVERED ALL THE FO INSTRUMENTATION WAS FAULTY. WE COULD SEE THE ARPT AND ORIENTED OURSELVES WITH THE ARPT AND BEGAN USING THE WHISKEY COMPASS AND STANDBY ATTITUDE INDICATOR ONLY. EVENTUALLY WE WERE ABLE TO GET ALL INSTRUMENTATION BACK AND CONTINUE OUR FLT. UPON MAINT INSPECTION; IT WAS DISCOVERED THERE WAS SOME MIS-WIRING OF THE FLT INSTRUMENTS. THE FO SIDE INSTRUMENTS SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN AFFECTED.SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 735935: THE NEXT SEVERAL MINS OF THE FLT WERE FLOWN ON STANDBY INSTRUMENTS (ATTITUDE AND WET COMPASS) UNTIL THE PROB WAS RESOLVED AND THE FLT CONTINUED TO THE DEST. OUR INITIAL RESPONSE TO THE ABNORMALITY WAS GOOD. HOWEVER; ACFT CTL; CHKLIST COMPLETION AND ATC COM SUFFERED UNTIL PROPER RADIO CONFIGURATION WAS ESTABLISHED. THE FO'S SPEAKER WAS TURNED ON SO THE REST OF THE CREW COULD HEAR ATC. BECAUSE OF THIS INITIAL CONFUSION; THE FO WAS FLYING PLT AND HANDLED THE RADIOS. ACFT MAINT CTL WAS ADVISED OF THE ABNORMALITY OF THE EVENT AND FOUND THE ACFT TO BE INCORRECTLY WIRED. CORRECTIVE ACTION WAS TAKEN BY MAINT. IT IS MY OPINION THAT ALL DC8 ACFT SHOULD BE INSPECTED FOR THIS MIS-WIRING. IF VMC WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PREVALENT WITHIN MINS OF OUR DEST OUR ONLY OPTION WOULD HAVE BEEN TO FLY AN ASR OR PAR APCH. SUCH AN EMER PROC SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED TO RESOLVE A GENERATOR FAILURE ON A 4 ENGINE JET.CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THAT HIS ACR COMPLETED A MAJOR RETROFIT ON THEIR DC8 FLEET AND IT IS UNKNOWN WHETHER THIS ELECTRICAL WIRING ERROR IS PRESENT IN THE ENTIRE FLT OR CONFINED TO THIS ACFT. THE RPTR WAS TALKED WITH HIS ACR'S SAFETY DEPT; PLT'S SAFETY REP; AND MAINT PERSONNEL. ALL PARTIES AGREE ABOUT THE SEVERITY OF THIS ASSUMED MIS-WIRING. RPTR IS UNSURE IF ACR WILL PURSUE A FULL SCALE INVESTIGATION BECAUSE IT MAY NOT BE IN THEIR FINANCIAL INTERESTS TO DO SO.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.