2022-02 · NASA ASRS report 1877481
B777-300 flight crew reported a wake turbulence encounter was a factor in a track deviation departing MIA.
Departure deviation following heavy Widebody after takeoff.[Runway] 8R cleared for takeoff behind heavy Widebody aircraft.Weather conditions after takeoff; night VFR winds out of southeast 45 knots at 1400 ft. MSL.From rotation to about 4;500 ft. in and out of wake turbulence from preceding heavy Wide body aircraft. Just climbing through 1;000 feet FO (First Officer) stated 'we've dumped our departure route' out of the box/FMC. [We responded by] putting in JAMBA; first waypoint on SID; back in box and then KBOLA for now. We began our turn direct JAMBA.MIA Departure Control; very busy; asked 'are you proceeding direct JAMBA?'FO responded; 'yes we are now proceeding direct JAMBA; we've been deviating a little to get out of wake turbulence from heavy aircraft we are following.'Departure Control cleared us continue climb 7;000 ft. speed restriction 250 kts.Just before reaching JAMBA Departure Control cleared us direct to KBOLA.4 NM before KBOLA Departure Control gave us a heading and 250 speed restriction still in effect; after which the remainder of the flight continued uneventfully.[We discussed; as a crew;] how and when we; the FO and me; dumped the SID out of the FMC. At the gate; before push back; with due diligence downloaded our route; departure Runway 8R; SID-KMIA FOLZZ1 FOLZZ; and ATC route clearance amendments FOLZZ DIR ZFP DIR BAAGR DIR GRATX then as filed; manually into the FMC. We then reviewed route and points individually as per normal procedures; all good. On the ATC clearance uplink the amended points came up as FOLZZ-N2617.3W07920.9; ZFP-N2633.3W07841.8; BAAGR-N2649.0W07631.3. When input manually to the FMC for example ZFP you get two choices of Lat Long's to choose from; so you pick the one with the corresponding Lat Long's....etc. However; it was noted later at the gate that we could have just auto uploaded the ATC amended part of the clearance through the FMC ATC clearance LOAD button which would have put in the ZFP and BAAGR points with the correct Lat Long's less chance of error....'See-Check it out!' I obviously must have pushed that button. No excuse; as I've read many reports from other professional pilots-colleagues on our team sharing similar events. I respect and thank them for sharing so I wouldn't make this mistake. Some of our pilots; new to aircraft and/or don't fly much; great to review things but; there is the right time and place. My timing was bad to review any FMC operations. I should have checked to see; after my FMC review with the FO; that I hadn't messed up our original route data.
Human Factors: Distraction; communication; change of habit patterns; Auto Upload of PDC overwriting planned SID. Nighttime; Fatigue; Complacency.After any change or automatic upload; go back through the FMC and ensure what is in there is what you want. Trust; but verify.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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