B737-700 Captain reported a late runway change resulted in a programming confusion that caused a slight track deviation that was complicated by a wake turbulence encounter on descent into ATL. The Captain; who was pilot monitoring; did not catch the changes in the box that came from the runway change.

Date: 2023-09 · Aircraft: B737-700 · Phase: descent

Anomalies: atc-issue-all-types|deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|inflight-event-encounter-wake-vortex-encounter

Synopsis

B737-700 Captain reported a late runway change resulted in a programming confusion that caused a slight track deviation that was complicated by a wake turbulence encounter on descent into ATL. The Captain; who was pilot monitoring; did not catch the changes in the box that came from the runway change.

Narrative

On arrival into ATL; we had planned on landing on Runway 28. When we were switched to Approach; they gave us Runway 27 Left. We changed the runway and re-briefed the approach. As I was reviewing the ATIS and performance numbers as the pilot monitoring; I realized that the glideslope for 27 Left was out of service. The pilot flying decided to change the approach to the RNAV 27L. We were quickly approaching EAGYL on the HOBTT 2 which is the downwind leg; when ATC told us to slow to 210 kt. and then descend to 7;000 ft. As we approach the intersection; we both realize that the aircraft was not going to make the turn. The pilot flying disconnected the autopilot and started a turn to continue on the arrival. Just as we made the turn; we encountered wake turbulence from the preceding aircraft. It caused us to climb and to bank. We momentarily received the bank angle alert. ATC noticed our deviation and gave us a heading to re-intercept the arrival. The pilot flying recovered and got back on speed and continued our descent and we continued the arrival on headings from the Approach Controller. The flight continued without further complications. When I looked at our plan in the box; I saw the discontinuity that was created when we changed the runway to the RNAV 27L. It rebuilt the whole HOBTT 2 Arrival and approach - this caused a discontinuity at EAGYL. The many runway changes and approach changes in the approach environment created a hazard which I should have caught prior to executing the final approach change. As the pilot monitoring; I must verify all changes to the box prior to execution. This is especially important in a high threat environment; such as ATL with multiple runway and approach changes.

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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.