An erj-170 captain reported difficulty in complying with a last minute hold clearance at a fix in sp...

Narrative:

We were issued a hold (point/ bearing/ distance) from a fix that was not on our flight plan. Upon entering the hold into the FMS (approximately 50 key strokes on the FMS keyboard); we realized that we had already passed the DME that the hold was issued to. We were initially issued the holding fix with less than 3 miles to go until crossing the DME fix. At first; the FMS would not allow an input of a hold to a point that we had already passed. After several attempts we were able to get the hold entered into the FMS. A turn in the wrong direction was initiated and an RA from our TCAS was issued and subsequently followed. Frequency congestion slowed us from informing ATC that we were past the fix and unable to enter the hold as instructed but an RA notification was made in a timely fashion. The controller had instructed us several times to 'expect holding.' a fix to 'expect' would have helped us enter the hold into the FMS prior to us being issued an unusual hold. During our time on the frequency; we were the first flight issued this given holding point (point/bearing/distance).

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An ERJ-170 Captain reported difficulty in complying with a last minute hold clearance at a fix in space; resulting in a turn in the wrong direction and an RA.

Narrative: We were issued a hold (Point/ Bearing/ Distance) from a fix that was not on our flight plan. Upon entering the hold into the FMS (approximately 50 key strokes on the FMS keyboard); we realized that we had already passed the DME that the hold was issued to. We were initially issued the holding fix with less than 3 miles to go until crossing the DME fix. At first; the FMS would not allow an input of a hold to a point that we had already passed. After several attempts we were able to get the hold entered into the FMS. A turn in the wrong direction was initiated and an RA from our TCAS was issued and subsequently followed. Frequency congestion slowed us from informing ATC that we were past the fix and unable to enter the hold as instructed but an RA notification was made in a timely fashion. The Controller had instructed us several times to 'Expect holding.' A fix to 'expect' would have helped us enter the hold into the FMS prior to us being issued an unusual hold. During our time on the frequency; we were the first flight issued this given holding point (Point/Bearing/Distance).

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	882613
Time
Date	201004
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZNY.ARTCC
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 170/175 ER&LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

An erj-170 captain reported difficulty in complying with a last minute hold clearance at a fix in space; resulting in a turn in the wrong direction and an RA.