B717 AUTOFLT SYS FLIES THROUGH LOC WITHOUT CAPTURE ON RWY 18R AT DFW.
Synopsis
B717 AUTOFLT SYS FLIES THROUGH LOC WITHOUT CAPTURE ON RWY 18R AT DFW.
Narrative
WX AT DFW WAS CLR WITH VISIBILITY AT 10+ MI. WE WERE VECTORED FOR A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 18R DOWNWIND; BASE; FINAL. I WAS FLYING THE ACFT WITH AUTOPLT ON; AND INTENDED TO INTERCEPT THE LOC ON AUTOPLT. APCH HAD US AT A 360 DEG HDG AND GAVE US A TURN TO 090 DEGS AND ASKED IF WE HAD THE ACFT WE WERE FOLLOWING IN SIGHT. WE ACKNOWLEDGED WE DID IN FACT HAVE THE ACFT IN SIGHT AND HE CLRED US FOR A VISUAL APCH TO IBR. I TURNED THE HDG SELECT KNOB TOWARD NETEE FOR THE FAF AND THEN SELECTED APCH MODE AND ALSO COMMAND 'B' ON AUTOPLT. I HAD ALSO SLOWED THE ACFT TO 160 KTS SINCE WE HAD A TAILWIND ON BASE LEG AND I WANTED TO BE SURE THE ACFT WOULD NOT OVERSHOOT FINAL. ACFT APCHED LOC COURSE AND FLEW RIGHT THROUGH LOC. I CLICKED OFF THE AUTOPLT IMMEDIATELY AND BEGAN A R TURN BACK TOWARD LOC. AS MENTIONED EARLIER; WE HAD A TAILWIND ON BASE AND THIS CAUSED ACFT TO FLY FURTHER OFF COURSE THAN IF NO WIND WAS INVOLVED. ACFT WENT PAST HWY 182 AND APPROX 1/2 WAY INTO TERMINAL AREA BEFORE HEADING BACK TOWARD LOC COURSE. THIS IS WHEN I RECEIVED A BRIEF TA ALERT (ONE TFC ANNOUNCEMENT AND THEN WENT AWAY). I WAS NOT ABLE TO MAKE VISUAL CONTACT WITH ANY OTHER ACFT AND CONTINUED BACK TO LOC COURSE AND LANDED ACFT WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. IT IS ALSO INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT ATC MADE NO COMMENTS ABOUT THE DEV ON RADIO. THIS EVENT CONCERNS ME BECAUSE HAND FLYING THIS APCH WOULD HAVE BEEN NO PROB; HOWEVER; WHEN ALLOWING THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE ACFT TO DO THE WORK; ONE MUST BE VIGILANT OF PROCS AND CONFIDENT THE ACFT WILL DO THE JOB PROPERLY. THE APCH WAS SET UP PROPERLY ACCORDING TO PROCS AND SHOULD HAVE INTERCEPTED THE LOC. THE ONLY REASON I COULD COME UP WITH THAT IT DIDN'T INTERCEPT THE COURSE IS THE ACTIVE WAYPOINT CHANGED FROM LEGRE TO NETEE BECAUSE DFW TURNED US BTWN THESE WAYPOINTS AND THE FMC WAS NOT UPDATED TO REFLECT THIS. WHEN FLYING APCHS AT ARPTS WITH PARALLEL APCHS AND USING THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE ACFT; IT BECOMES EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO VERIFY YOUR ACTIVE WAYPOINT PRIOR TO INTERCEPTING THE COURSE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.