A319 flight crew; cleared to proceed direct to the final approach fix for a visual approach; entered...

Narrative:

Approach cleared us for the visual approach to runway xxl. The clearance was; 'proceed direct [final approach fix]'; cleared for the visual runway xxl.' we inserted 'direct [FAF]' into the box and verified navigation. Autopilot-1 and 'appr' modes were selected to intercept the localizer and GS at [FAF]. We were at 7;000 ft; the GS intercept altitude for [FAF]. We were approximately 3-4 miles outside of [FAF] and east of centerline for xxl. As we proceeded; still in navigation mode; the airplane remained slightly left (east) of an actual direct path to [FAF]. Both pilots were watching outside the aircraft. We were still tracking towards xxl; but unknowingly not tracking to [FAF] anymore. Tower asked us to verify we were landing xxl. We acknowledged that we were. It was at this point we saw we were going to intercept the xxl centerline inside of [FAF] and not at [FAF]. We saw that the aircraft was still in navigation mode; yet the aircraft was clearly about a mile or so east of the course that would've taken us to [FAF]. The autopilot was disengaged and we landed with no incident on xxl. The only abnormality to this was that the aircraft wasn't doing what the box was saying it was doing. And we intercepted the localizer inside of [FAF] instead of at [FAF] as we were told to do by ATC.suggest better monitoring of the automation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 flight crew; cleared to proceed direct to the Final Approach Fix for a visual approach; entered the fix into the FMS; but failed to notice that the aircraft was tracking left of course until advised by the Local Controller.

Narrative: Approach cleared us for the visual approach to Runway XXL. The clearance was; 'Proceed direct [Final Approach Fix]'; cleared for the visual Runway XXL.' We inserted 'Direct [FAF]' into the box and verified NAV. Autopilot-1 and 'APPR' modes were selected to intercept the LOC and GS at [FAF]. We were at 7;000 FT; the GS intercept altitude for [FAF]. We were approximately 3-4 miles outside of [FAF] and east of centerline for XXL. As we proceeded; still in NAV mode; the airplane remained slightly left (east) of an actual direct path to [FAF]. Both pilots were watching outside the aircraft. We were still tracking towards XXL; but unknowingly not tracking to [FAF] anymore. Tower asked us to verify we were landing XXL. We acknowledged that we were. It was at this point we saw we were going to intercept the XXL centerline inside of [FAF] and not at [FAF]. We saw that the aircraft was still in NAV mode; yet the aircraft was clearly about a mile or so east of the course that would've taken us to [FAF]. The autopilot was disengaged and we landed with no incident on XXL. The only abnormality to this was that the aircraft wasn't doing what the box was saying it was doing. And we intercepted the LOC inside of [FAF] instead of at [FAF] as we were told to do by ATC.Suggest better monitoring of the automation.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1007761
Time
Date	201205
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Autoflight System
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

A319 flight crew; cleared to proceed direct to the final approach fix for a visual approach; entered the fix into the FMS; but failed to notice that the aircraft was tracking left of course until advised by the local controller.