C525 captain approaching wentz at 1;500 ft (ruudy 4 from teb) attempts to engage the autopilot witho...

Attributes
ACN	1046478
Time
Date	201210
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	TEB.Airport
State Reference	NJ
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Citationjet (C525/C526) - CJ I / II / III / IV
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	SID RUUDY 3
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Autopilot
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 5200 Flight Crew Type 2500
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

I was departing teb to the first waypoint; wentz; on the ruudy 3 [4] departure. At wentz I leveled out at the assigned altitude of 1;500 ft and activated the autopilot. However it did not turn on and I proceeded with the normal procedure of pressing the autopilot disconnect; and then attempted to activate the autopilot without success. I then repeated the above; again without success. I then proceeded to fly the aircraft manually but found I had drifted up to about 1;700 ft and proceeded to return to 1;500 ft. At this point I was about midway between wentz and the 2 mile distant tasca waypoint. When I reached tasca I climbed to 2;000 ft as required. About 5 minutes later I was able to activate the autopilot and proceeded without incident. Upon reflection; upon failure to activate the autopilot; I should have devoted my full attention to maintaining altitude and course instead of working on the autopilot.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C525 Captain approaching WENTZ at 1;500 FT (RUUDY 4 from TEB) attempts to engage the autopilot without success. During this time the altitude drifts up to 1;700 FT prior to WENTZ and is corrected back to 1;500 FT; but TASCA is crossed at 1;500 FT instead of the 2;000 FT published.

Narrative: I was departing TEB to the first waypoint; WENTZ; on the RUUDY 3 [4] departure. At WENTZ I leveled out at the assigned altitude of 1;500 FT and activated the autopilot. However it did not turn on and I proceeded with the normal procedure of pressing the autopilot disconnect; and then attempted to activate the autopilot without success. I then repeated the above; again without success. I then proceeded to fly the aircraft manually but found I had drifted up to about 1;700 FT and proceeded to return to 1;500 FT. At this point I was about midway between WENTZ and the 2 mile distant TASCA waypoint. When I reached TASCA I climbed to 2;000 FT as required. About 5 minutes later I was able to activate the autopilot and proceeded without incident. Upon reflection; upon failure to activate the autopilot; I should have devoted my full attention to maintaining altitude and course instead of working on the autopilot.

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.

C525 captain approaching wentz at 1;500 ft (ruudy 4 from teb) attempts to engage the autopilot without success. During this time the altitude drifts up to 1;700 ft prior to wentz and is corrected back to 1;500 ft; but tasca is crossed at 1;500 ft instead of the 2;000 ft published.