Embraer Legacy 450/500
Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100; Flight Crew Total 17000; Flight Crew Type 500
Troubleshooting; Workload; Time Pressure
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Aircraft; Human Factors
As much as a pilot tries to stay ahead of the situation; sometimes things get out of hand in a hurry. On this particular flight I was flying single pilot at a busy metropolitan airport waiting for my passengers. The cockpit was set up well in advance with all cockpit system tests completed and the departure procedure loaded and reviewed in the FMS. As the aircraft started to get heated due to the high local temperatures I turned on the vapor cycle air conditioning system. The system did not activate and all it was putting out was warm air. Since the aircraft is highly computerized I decided to shut everything down in an attempt to 'reboot' the air conditioning system; which had been successful on previous flights. Doing this loses all of the previously accomplished system tests and departure procedure. At that time my passengers showed up with quite a bit of luggage which I had to work at to get stowed due to their bulk. I advised the passengers that the air conditioning was not working properly but it was decided to continue with the flight due to time constraints and the possibility the system would come on. So I had four passengers loaded in a fairly small cabin with the sun beating down and everyone complaining how uncomfortable it was. I assured them that as we climbed to altitude the cabin would cool off. I rushed through the system check and FMS loading once more. This is where I believe my departure situation was created.
EMB500 Captain described the minor air conditioning problem; the incorrect loading of the FMS and subsequent track deviation.