WAKE ENCOUNTER -- THE FLC HITS THE WAKE OF THE PRECEDING ACFT; AND WHILE ATTEMPTING TO AVOID A SECOND ENCOUNTER; FORGETS TO LEVEL OFF.
Synopsis
WAKE ENCOUNTER -- THE FLC HITS THE WAKE OF THE PRECEDING ACFT; AND WHILE ATTEMPTING TO AVOID A SECOND ENCOUNTER; FORGETS TO LEVEL OFF.
Narrative
DEPARTING EWR WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF RWY 22R. WE DEPARTED BEHIND A BOEING 727 AND SHORTLY AFTER LIFT OFF (1000 FT MSL) WE ENCOUNTERED THE WAKE TURB OF THE 727. OUR ACFT (BAE 4100) BEGAN TO ROLL R. THE FO WAS FLYING THE ACFT AND WAS TRYING TO FLY CLR OF THE WAKE TURB. WE WERE DEPARTING ON THE NEWARK 4 SID WHICH HAS A PUBLISHED ALT OF 5000 FT; HOWEVER WE HAD BEEN ISSUED A LOWER ALT TO MAINTAIN 2500 FT. CLBING THROUGH 1500 FT I MADE THE STANDARD CALLOUT; '1000 TO GO.' THE FO REPEATED THE CALLOUT. OUR RATE OF CLB WAS BTWN 1200-1500 FPM. AT THIS TIME THE ATC ASSIGNED A HDG OF 310 DEGS. I REACHED UP AND TURNED THE HDG BUG TO 310 DEGS; AND ABOUT THAT TIME; THE ALT ALERTER WENT ON INDICATING WE WERE ABOVE THE SET ALT OF 2500 FT. LOOKING AT THE ALTIMETER I OBSERVED 2900 FT AND CLBING. I TOLD THE FO THE ASSIGNED ALT WAS 2500 FT. HE WAS APPARENTLY STILL DEALING WITH THE WAKE TURB OF THE B727 AND BEING DISTRACTED WITH THAT HE CONTINUED CLBING. I TOOK THE CTLS AND RETARDED THE THROTTLES TO IDLE AND INITIATED THE DSCNT BACK TO 2500 FT. I RELINQUISHED CTL OF THE ACFT BACK TO THE FO ONCE WE GOT THE ACFT HEADED BACK DOWN TO THE CORRECT ALT. ABOUT THIS TIME; THE CTLR ASKED THE ASSIGNED ALT; TO WHICH I RESPONDED 2500 FT AND APOLOGIZED FOR THE ALTDEV. THE CTLR THEN CLRED US TO CLB TO 5000 FT AND DID NOT INDICATE THAT THERE HAD BEEN A TFC CONFLICT. I ASKED THE FO AFTER THE INCIDENT WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND HE SAID THAT HE WAS BUSY TRYING TO AVOID ANOTHER ENCOUNTER WITH THE WAKE TURB; AND THAT HE INADVERTENTLY WENT RIGHT THROUGH THE ALT. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH REPORTER REVEALED THE FOLLOWING: THE RPTR STATES THAT HE HAS ENCOUNTERED WAKE IN THIS OR SIMILAR SITS MANY TIMES AT EWR. THE CTLRS ARE SO CONCERNED ABOUT MOVING TFC THAT THEY PUSH YOU TO LAUNCH; EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE TOO CLOSE TO HVY ACFT. THE B727 WAS SEEN BY THE RPTR IN ITS TKOF AND ITS IDENTITY; ITS RANGE; ITS DIRECTION OR ANY WAKE CAUTION WAS NOT GIVEN BY THE CTLR. HE MAY NOW CONSIDER SUCH THINGS OBVIOUS SAID THE RPTR. THE RPTR FLIES THE BAE-4100 JETSTREAM FREQUENTLY FROM EWR; AND HE THINKS THAT THE WAKE TURB ENCOUNTERS ARE GETTING MORE FREQUENT AND MORE VIOLENT. THE RPTR DID BRIEF HIS FO TO EXPECT TO ENCOUNTER THE 727'S WAKE AND HE THINKS THAT IT HELPED HIM TO COUNTER ITS EFFECT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.