A BE400A FO TURNS THE WRONG DIRECTION OF FLT FOR AN ASSIGNED HDG ISSUED BY ATC DEP; HOU; TX.

Date: 2002-01 · Aircraft: Beechjet 400

Anomalies: deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

A BE400A FO TURNS THE WRONG DIRECTION OF FLT FOR AN ASSIGNED HDG ISSUED BY ATC DEP; HOU; TX.

Narrative

ON THE RETURN FLT FROM HOUSTON TO LAFAYETTE; I ASSUMED THE PF DUTIES JUST PRIOR TO REACHING THE HOLD SHORT LINES AT HOUSTON HOBBY. ACFT Y DEPARTED HOU AT XA55. PRIOR TO TAXI AT HOU; ATC CLRED ACFT X (US) TO LAFAYETTE; IND; VIA THE LUFKIN 2 DEP PROC; LUFKIN TRANSITION. THE INITIAL ALT ASSIGNED WAS 4000 FT. WHILE TAXIING TO RWY 22 THE DEP BRIEFING WAS ACCOMPLISHED. DURING THE TAXI; CAPT ASKED ME WHAT THE PROC WAS FOR THE LUFKIN 2 DEP ON BECOMING AIRBORNE. I RECITED THE SID TO THE CAPT. WE STOPPED AT THE HOLD SHORT LINES FOR RWY 22; WHERE HOU TWR CLRED US INTO POS AND HOLD ON RWY 22. THE BEFORE TKOF CHKLIST AND RWY ITEMS WERE COMPLETED. ACFT X WAS INSTRUCTED TO FLY HDG 350 DEGS AND WAS CLRED FOR TKOF ON RWY 22. CAPT READ BACK THE CLRNC TO HOU TWR AND SET HDG 350 DEGS ON THE FLT DIRECTOR USING THE HDG CTL KNOB. I PUT THE FO'S FLT DIRECTOR INTO 'HDG MODE;' WHICH INDICATED A R TURN TO HDG 350 DEGS FROM THE RWY HDG OF APPROX 220 DEGS. AFTER LIFTOFF; I BEGAN THE TURN TO A 350 DEG HDG; WHEN CAPT ADVISED ME TO LEVEL THE WINGS FOR A FEW MORE MOMENTS TO GAIN ADDITIONAL ALT BEFORE TURNING. I COMPLIED AND LEVELED THE WINGS AND GAINED ADDITIONAL ALT. I THEN REINITIATED THE TURN TO HDG 350 DEGS. AT THIS POINT; WE WERE RAPIDLY APCHING OUR INITIAL CLRNC ALT OF 4000 FT; AND I WAS ATTENDING TO LEVEL THE AIRPLANE AND REDUCE THE PWR. AS SOON AS WE LEVELED AND THE WORKLOAD DECREASED; I WAS INFORMED BY CAPT (WHO WAS INFORMED BY ATC) THAT WE HAD TURNED THE WRONG WAY TO HDG 350 DEGS AND THIS WAS A MAJOR VIOLATION. CAPT ASKED ME 'WHY DID YOU TURN R?' WHEN I DID NOT REPLY; HE STATED 'WHY DID I LET YOU TURN R?' THE REMAINDER OF THE FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL. CONTRIBUTING TO THE MISUNDERSTANDING WAS THE FAILURE OF HOU TWR TO EMPHASIZE THE L TURN (GREATER THAN 180 DEGS) TO 350 DEG HDG. ALSO; THE LACK OF CRM IN THE COCKPIT TO QUESTION EACH OTHER ABOUT THE TURN.

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