Citation V/Ultra/Encore (C560)
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 175; Flight Crew Total 1560; Flight Crew Type 80
Confusion; Human-Machine Interface
Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Returned To Clearance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Aircraft; Human Factors
I was the PIC and pilot flying in a Citation V for an empty reposition flight to Scottsdale (SDL). I've only recently begun flying the empty legs. My copilot was an experienced Captain who would fly the passenger leg out of Scottsdale. Both of us fly multiple aircraft types with varying avionics setups.The weather was clear and unrestricted. Coming from the Midwest; we filed and were given the DSERT2 arrival via INW. As we passed SHOCK and were going to BUSTD; I was monitoring the autopilot; and the copilot decided to enter the landing runway in the FMS without telling me. The FMS did not require the landing runway because the weather was visual and the DSERT2 arrival is coded in a way that entered the correct route anyways. The copilot finished entering the landing runway just as we reached BUSTD. This particular FMS dumps all waypoints after the current TO waypoint when a runway is selected; manual reactivation of the next legs is required. I selected HDG mode on the autopilot when I realized my next fixes were gone and we were almost over BUSTD. Upon realizing the fixes were not active for sequence; in a rush the copilot selected direct BUSTD; and believed that fixed the problem. However; in hindsight I believe the FMS had just sequenced past BUSTD and we should have been navigating to YOLOW. His direct-to caused the FMS to attempt to take us in a right turn back to BUSTD. Before I fully realized that; I allowed the copilot to convince me the FMS was correctly re-programmed and I reselected NAV; although my gut said it wasn't quite right. As the autopilot kept making a right turn; I finally disconnected and hand flew back in the direction of the correct course from BUSTD to YOLOW. We were also conducting a descent during this whole situation. The copilot finally gave me direct YOLOW; which was also incorrect; but I stayed in HDG mode back to where I knew the course was by visual landmarks I'd picked out before this all started. It's an estimate; but I don't believe we were ever more than a mile off course. We received a visual approach clearance just before reaching YOLOW; and navigated visually to the airport. Thinking about this event leads me to a few conclusions. One; the short leg distances and the high speed on this arrival led to short time periods to analyze; discuss; and initiate corrective actions; fixes passed by quickly while we were trying to get the FMS re-programmed. Two; flying multiple aircraft types makes it hard to remember the particular idiosyncrasies of each avionics package. I'm still working on my familiarity with this FMS; and it doesn't do things as smoothly or easily as the others I fly more regularly. The copilot admitted later after we landed in Scottsdale that he forgot this FMS would de-activate the legs when entering a runway. In hindsight; we should have either left the FMS alone or set it up much farther out on the arrival. Three; I failed to be truly in command of the aircraft. I mentally succumbed to my copilot's greater FMS/type/flying experience and let him convince me to go back to NAV mode too soon (though my gut said otherwise); did not disconnect the autopilot as quickly/aggressively as I should have when it was turning; and did not insist on reactivating the BUSTD-YOLOW leg correctly when he gave me direct YOLOW. I will definitely take these lessons learned to heart for future flights.
C560 Captain (pilot flying) reports a track deviation during the DSERT2 arrival to SDL when the pilot not flying (PNF) elects to enter the landing runway in the FMC. This creates a route discontinuity as BUSTD is about to be crossed which the PNF attempts to repair but is initially unsuccessful; resulting in a track deviation. Flying multiple aircraft/FMC types was cited as a factor in this incident.