1988-09 · NASA ASRS report 94202
GA SMA DEVIATION FROM CLRNC ROUTE FOLLOWING A PRACTICE ILS APCH TO MCN.
DEPARTING MACON (MCN); GA ON AN IFR FLT PLAN FOR FULTON CTY ARPT (FTY); ATLANTA; GA; I ENTERED AN INCORRECT RADIAL (320 DEG INSTEAD OF 340 DEG; THE APPROPRIATE COURSE) IN MY #1 NAV RADIO. MY CLRNC SPECIFIED 'LEFT TO 320 DEG; JOIN VECTOR 323; CLB AND MAINTAIN 5000'; HUSKY INTXN; DIRECT FULTON CTY.' THIS NAV ERROR RESULTED IN MY TRACKING TO THE W OF V323; THE PROPER COURSE. (SEE CHART.) WHAT HAPPENED WAS THAT I ENTERED THE INITIAL VECTOR HDG (320 DEG) IN THE #1 NAV WHICH WAS SET TO THE MCN VOR; AND LEFT IT THERE W/O CHANGING TO 340 DEG; THE MAGNETIC COURSE OUTBND FROM MCN VOR TO THE NW. BTWN SMARR AND NALIZ INTXNS; MACON DEP CTL ADVISED ME I WAS 4 MI W OF CENTERLINE (V323). THEY SUGGESTED A HDG OF 360 DEG TO REJOIN THE AIRWAY. I IMMEDIATELY COMPLIED WITH THE REQUEST AND WAS BACK ON THE AIRWAY PRIOR TO HUSKY INTXN; THE USUAL POINT WHERE SUCH AN IFR FLT IS HANDED OFF TO ATLANTA APCH CTL. SINCE I WAS INSTRUCTED TO 'RESUME OWN NAV' WITHIN MIN AFTER DEP; I REALIZE I AM RESPONSIBLE TOTALLY FOR THE ABOVE DESCRIBED SITUATION. HOWEVER; I WOULD LIKE TO DESCRIBE FROM A 'HUMAN FACTOR' VIEWPOINT WHY I THINK THIS EVENT HAPPENED AND (MOST IMPORTANTLY) WHAT I CAN DO TO PREVENT ITS RECURRENCE. 1) COMPLACENCY; 2) MISUSE OF OMNI BEARING (COURSE) SELECTOR (OBS) ON VOR. IN PARTICULAR; COMPLACENCY. PRIOR TO DEPARTING ENRTE; I REQUESTED AND RECEIVED CLRNC TO CONDUCT AN ILS 5 APCH AT MACON. THE APCH PROCEEDED VERY WELL. UPON DECLARING MY MISSED APCH; PULLING UP; AND TURNING TO 320 DEG AS PREVIOUSLY INSTRUCTED BY APCH CTL; I RELAXED AT THE THOUGHT OF HAVING COMPLETED SUCH A LOW APCH IN IFR CONDITIONS; BUT I RELAXED TOO MUCH. I HAVE FOUND FROM PAST EXPERIENCE THAT I HAVE A 'WE'RE ON THE APCH AND THE CHIPS ARE DOWN' ATTITUDE; IMPLYING THAT ANYTHING ELSE IN IFR FLT IS A PIECE OF CAKE. MISUSE OF OBS SELECTOR OF VOR RECEIVER. WHENEVER I FLY A RADAR VECTORED ILS APCH; I DIAL IN THE ASSIGNED VECTOR HDG IN THE OBS (AS A REMINDER) SINCE THIS COMPONENT OF THE RADIO HAS NO ACTUAL FUNCTION ON AN ILS. THIS TECHNIQUE IS WIDELY USED AND WAS TAUGHT TO ME DURING MY INSTRUMENT TRNING. BUT I NOW QUESTION ITS WISDOM. 'FORCE OF HABIT' CAN HAVE NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS. ONCE I TURNED IN MCN VOR; I DIALED THE INITIAL HDG OF 320 DEG (AS I HAD BEEN DOING ON THE ILS APCH). INSTEAD; I SHOULD HAVE IMMEDIATELY ENTERED THE OUTBND AIRWAY COURSE (340 DEG) AND JUST MEMORIZED OR WRITTEN DOWN THE 320 DEG INITIAL HDG. THIS INCIDENT HAS MADE ME STRONGLY CONSIDER THE USE OF THE OBS ON AN ILS APCH AS I HAVE DESCRIBED. (A HDG 'BUG' ON THE DG WOULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL; BUT THE ACFT FLOWN HAS NO AUTOPLT.)
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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