Narrative:

I was departing pwk; on the palwaukee two departure. This SID shows an immediate right turn after takeoff in order to stay east of the ord 345 radial. The crew reviewed the procedure prior to taxi and again before takeoff. Both pilot flying and pilot not flying VOR's were tuned to ord VOR; with the obs set to the 345 degree radial. I requested the pilot not flying to monitor the CDI displays for the 345 radial on departure. Takeoff was runway 16; with the wind approximately 170 degrees at 11 KTS and ceiling about 2;000 ft. The tower instructed us to turn right heading 010 or 020; climb and maintain 2;500 ft. After takeoff and gear retraction; I started a 30 degree banked turn to the right; as indicated on the procedure. When the pilot not flying called '170 KTS and 400 ft'; I called for flap retraction (our policy is to reach 170 KTS before flap retraction; because the rudder boost system is deactivated after flap retraction; and the aircraft is safer to control at or above 170 KTS in the event of engine failure) and at the same time I started reducing power. As the flaps retracted; my airspeed varied between 180 and 200 KTS; I reduced power further. We were then instructed to contact departure. The pilot not flying checked on with departure and the controller told us '(I) don't know if you're gonna make it - it's gonna be tight' - so; I increased my bank angle to 45 degrees (maximum angle for safety of flight). The pilot not flying told departure; 'we're at a 45 degree bank.' departure gave us a traffic call; and both pilots checked our TCAS; no targets appeared within the selected 6 NM range. Departure informed me that there was a possible pilot deviation and said they'd have to '...check on it.' after one or two frequency changes later; a new controller gave us a phone number to call after landing. Contributing factors: 1) the upper level wind was quite a bit stronger than forecast or realized - out of the southeast; which made the aircraft tracking radius worse; 2) bank angle of 45 degrees was used to tighten the turn; but at low altitude can compromise safety; and passenger comfort. 3) low ceiling - IFR conditions. 4) this event happened within a very short time frame; 5) I had no traffic showing on our TCAS; at 6 NM range; I assumed that ATC was aware of our track and our attempt (45 degree bank) to comply with the procedure - perhaps we should have advised ATC that we would not be able to comply. Looking back; I now fully realize just how tight a turn is required; especially in our jet; in order to complete the turn east of the 345 degree radial... I think that the only way to complete this procedure would be to delay flap retraction and limit speed below 180 KTS until completion of the turn. While this maneuver might work to comply with the SID; I think this is not a safe decision - I would choose the option printed on the SID; which is to inform ATC that you will be unable to comply. I also feel strongly that the SID departure route description should be amended to give a stronger warning to pilots of turbojet aircraft that it may be necessity to fly the aircraft outside normal parameters. I plan on including this departure procedure during our annual recurrent simulator training; I think the training facilities should add this to their 'hot' list of training; much like the aspen departure!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A corporate jet crew departed PWK and failed to turn tightly enough to remain east of the ORD 345 Radial as the aircraft was cleaned up and accelerated.

Narrative: I was departing PWK; on the Palwaukee Two Departure. This SID shows an immediate right turn after takeoff in order to stay east of the ORD 345 radial. The crew reviewed the procedure prior to taxi and again before takeoff. Both pilot flying and pilot not flying VOR's were tuned to ORD VOR; with the OBS set to the 345 degree radial. I requested the pilot not flying to monitor the CDI displays for the 345 radial on departure. Takeoff was Runway 16; with the wind approximately 170 degrees at 11 KTS and ceiling about 2;000 FT. The Tower instructed us to turn right heading 010 or 020; climb and maintain 2;500 FT. After takeoff and gear retraction; I started a 30 degree banked turn to the right; as indicated on the procedure. When the pilot not flying called '170 KTS and 400 FT'; I called for flap retraction (our policy is to reach 170 KTS before flap retraction; because the rudder boost system is deactivated after flap retraction; and the aircraft is safer to control at or above 170 KTS in the event of engine failure) and at the same time I started reducing power. As the flaps retracted; my airspeed varied between 180 and 200 KTS; I reduced power further. We were then instructed to contact Departure. The pilot not flying checked on with Departure and the Controller told us '(I) don't know if you're gonna make it - it's gonna be tight' - so; I increased my bank angle to 45 degrees (maximum angle for safety of flight). The pilot not flying told Departure; 'We're at a 45 degree bank.' Departure gave us a traffic call; and both pilots checked our TCAS; no targets appeared within the selected 6 NM range. Departure informed me that there was a possible pilot deviation and said they'd have to '...check on it.' After one or two frequency changes later; a new Controller gave us a phone number to call after landing. Contributing factors: 1) the upper level wind was quite a bit stronger than forecast or realized - out of the southeast; which made the aircraft tracking radius worse; 2) bank angle of 45 degrees was used to tighten the turn; but at low altitude can compromise safety; and passenger comfort. 3) Low ceiling - IFR conditions. 4) This event happened within a very short time frame; 5) I had no traffic showing on our TCAS; at 6 NM range; I assumed that ATC was aware of our track and our attempt (45 degree bank) to comply with the procedure - perhaps we should have advised ATC that we would not be able to comply. Looking back; I now fully realize just how tight a turn is required; especially in our jet; in order to complete the turn east of the 345 degree radial... I think that the only way to complete this procedure would be to delay flap retraction and limit speed below 180 KTS until completion of the turn. While this maneuver might work to comply with the SID; I think this is not a safe decision - I would choose the option printed on the SID; which is to inform ATC that you will be unable to comply. I also feel strongly that the SID Departure Route Description should be amended to give a stronger warning to pilots of turbojet aircraft that it may be necessity to fly the aircraft outside normal parameters. I plan on including this departure procedure during our annual recurrent simulator training; I think the training facilities should add this to their 'hot' list of training; much like the Aspen departure!

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.