Distracted by trouble shooting their efb; the flight crew of a PA31 failed to note the autopilot had...

Attributes
ACN	925220
Time
Date	201012
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZBW.ARTCC
State Reference	NH
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-31 Navajo/Chieftan/Mojave/T1040
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Autopilot
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 31 Flight Crew Total 15700 Flight Crew Type 184
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control

Narrative:

We were cruising at 9;000 MSL proceeding direct mooni intersection in the vicinity of kingston VOR with the autopilot selected in heading and altitude hold modes. My copilot was having a problem with our tablet efb and asked me a question. I looked away from my instruments and towards the efb on his lap for about a minute as I explained a function. Boston center called me and requested that I check my altitude as he was showing me almost 300 ft low. I looked at my instruments and saw that I was at 8;800 ft MSL and descending with about a 30 degree right bank; and I was 50 degrees right of course. I rolled back left on course and climbed back to 9;000 ft.I must have inadvertently disconnected the autopilot (ap) as I turned and leaned to the right; or perhaps some electrical glitch had done it; but in any event the ap had been disconnected and I had failed to notice it. (The piper altimatic IIIB ap does not have any aural or visual warning for a disconnected ap.) I should not have allowed the efb issue to distract me for so long without maintaining my instrument scan and monitoring of the ap performance. In the future; I will be more diligent in guarding against distractions that pull me from my primary duty of flying the aircraft and monitoring systems performance.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Distracted by trouble shooting their EFB; the flight crew of a PA31 failed to note the autopilot had disconnected and the aircraft was descending and turning to the right. ATC alerted the crew who were in IMC at the time.

Narrative: We were cruising at 9;000 MSL proceeding direct MOONI Intersection in the vicinity of Kingston VOR with the autopilot selected in heading and altitude hold modes. My copilot was having a problem with our tablet EFB and asked me a question. I looked away from my instruments and towards the EFB on his lap for about a minute as I explained a function. Boston Center called me and requested that I check my altitude as he was showing me almost 300 FT low. I looked at my instruments and saw that I was at 8;800 FT MSL and descending with about a 30 degree right bank; and I was 50 degrees right of course. I rolled back left on course and climbed back to 9;000 FT.I must have inadvertently disconnected the autopilot (AP) as I turned and leaned to the right; or perhaps some electrical glitch had done it; but in any event the AP had been disconnected and I had failed to notice it. (The Piper Altimatic IIIB AP does not have any aural or visual warning for a disconnected AP.) I should not have allowed the EFB issue to distract me for so long without maintaining my instrument scan and monitoring of the AP performance. In the future; I will be more diligent in guarding against distractions that pull me from my primary duty of flying the aircraft and monitoring systems performance.

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.

Distracted by trouble shooting their efb; the flight crew of a PA31 failed to note the autopilot had disconnected and the aircraft was descending and turning to the right. ATC alerted the crew who were in IMC at the time.