HDG TRACK POS DEV AFTER CLRNC AMENDED TO HOLD ENRTE. HOLDING PROC HOLDING PATTERN LOCATION CONFUSED.
Synopsis
HDG TRACK POS DEV AFTER CLRNC AMENDED TO HOLD ENRTE. HOLDING PROC HOLDING PATTERN LOCATION CONFUSED.
Narrative
SIMPLY PUT; WE MADE A MISTAKE. OUR FLT WAS ENRTE FLL-LGA AT FL330; AUTOPLT WAS ON; AND VNAV/LNAV FUNCTIONS WERE ENGAGED. RTE BEING FLOWN WAS 'NANCI 4 STAR' INTO LGA. ZDC GAVE US HOLDING INSTRUCTIONS: OTT 052 DEG RADIAL; 20 DME/L TURNS/10 MI LEGS/EFC XY00 Z. BOTH CAPT AND I WROTE DOWN OUR HOLDING INSTRUCTIONS. APPARENTLY; HOWEVER; WE WERE OVER; OR JUST PAST (NE) OF OTT WHEN WE RECEIVED OUR HOLDING INSTRUCTIONS; BECAUSE LOOKING AT THE 'LEGS PAGE' OF THE FMC THE NEXT VOR DISPLAYED WAS DQO. USING THE 'HOLD PAGE' OF THE FMC I ENTERED ALL THE INFO GIVEN IN THE HOLDING CLRNC BUT USED DQO VERSUS OTT VOR. I READ WHAT I'D ENTERED INTO THE FMC TO THE CAPT WHO AGREED THAT IT WAS CORRECT. I THEN ENTERED THE HOLDING FIX INTO THE 'LEGS PAGE' BTWN DQO AND STEFE INTXN (STEFE INTXN WAS 24 DME NE OF DQO AND OUR HOLDING FIX WAS 20 DME). AT XX34Z ZDC TOLD US TO MAKE 'A RIGHT L TURN TO 240 DEGS TO ENTER THE HOLD.' WE WERE 5 MI SW OF KERNO INTXN AT THIS TIME -- 44 DME NE OF OTT. AFTER TURNING; I USED RAW DATA FROM OTT VOR AND SUBSEQUENTLY ENTERED THE CORRECT HOLD. ATC MADE NO FURTHER COMMENTS; AND WE WEREN'T AWARE OF ANY TFC CONFLICTS. OUR FLT CONTINUED TO LGA WITHOUT INCIDENT. IN RETROSPECT; I THINK THIS INCIDENT COULD'VE BEEN PREVENTED. HAD THE CAPT (AS PNF) BEEN BACKING UP OUR RTE WITH RAW DATA RATHER THAN BEING IN 'NAV' (FMC GENERATED RTE INFO) LIKE ME. THOUGH NOT REQUIRED; THAT WAY IS THE COMPANY RECOMMENDED WAY TO OPERATE ENRTE. ALSO; AS IS TRUE WITH ALL COMPUTERS; 'GARBAGE IN; GARBAGE OUT.' THE FMC WILL NOT PERFORM CORRECTLY IF NOT PROGRAMMED CORRECTLY. WE BOTH COPIED OUR HOLDING CLRNC CORRECTLY (AND READ IT BACK CORRECTLY) BUT ENTERED IT INTO THE FMC INCORRECTLY. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 235109: SHORTLY AFTER THE FMC UPDATE; I LEFT THE PRIMARY VHF FREQ TO ADVISE OUR COMPANY OF OUR HOLDING AND AN EFC. THE LESSON LEARNED FROM THIS WAS TO PAY CLOSER ATTN TO DETAIL. ALTHOUGH ALT; DIRECTION OF TURN; LEG DISTANCE; COURSE; AND DISTANCE WERE ENTERED; WE TRANSPOSED THE NEXT DOWNLINE NAVAID ON THE ARR INTO THE HOLDING FIX. REGRETTABLY; AFTER ENTERING THIS INFO INTO THE FMC; I FAILED TO MONITOR FLT PROGRESS WHILE COMMUNICATING ON THE BACKUP VHF RADIO TO OUR COMPANY. PERHAPS CLOSER MONITORING BY BOTH THE PNF; MYSELF; AS WELL AS THE PF COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS ERROR.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.