A CRJ900 flight crew reported a deviation from cleared departure route when they were distracted by ...

Narrative:

Runway 9 left Novss7 departure - normal take off; gear up and at around 7 hundred feet AGL I called 'speed mode navigation mode' at about the same time we encountered wake turbulence (plus 20 degree roll). I remained 'hands on' the controls to counter roll motions. ATC queried us as to our heading and at that point we became aware that we were not tracking the departure nor was the auto pilot on. ATC gave us a heading and shortly after that they gave us direct to waypoint gritz. There was no TCAS alert so we are assuming there was no traffic conflict.two threats:1) our take off roll and initial climb was complicated by the fact that the sun was directly in our eyes. 2) distraction due to wake turbulence.errors:1) monitoring pilot did not verify the navigation mode on (due to sun in his eyes?)2) flying pilot did not maintain proper track (distraction due to wake turbulence?)this is another case where both pilots started to assume the same roles - aircraft control was in question due to the wake turbulence so both pilots were focusing on aircraft control and no-one was monitoring the flight path or the autopilot. This is another reminder that each pilot ought to focus on his/her own role as pilot flying or pilot monitoring. Note: neither pilot was using their efb at this time.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ900 flight crew reported a deviation from cleared departure route when they were distracted by the bright early morning sun and a wake turbulence encounter departing ATL in trail of a B737.

Narrative: Runway 9 Left Novss7 departure - normal take off; gear up and at around 7 hundred feet AGL I called 'speed mode NAV mode' at about the same time we encountered wake turbulence (plus 20 degree roll). I remained 'hands on' the controls to counter roll motions. ATC queried us as to our heading and at that point we became aware that we were not tracking the departure nor was the auto pilot on. ATC gave us a heading and shortly after that they gave us direct to waypoint GRITZ. There was no TCAS alert so we are assuming there was no traffic conflict.Two threats:1) our take off roll and initial climb was complicated by the fact that the sun was directly in our eyes. 2) distraction due to wake turbulence.Errors:1) Monitoring pilot did not verify the NAV mode on (due to sun in his eyes?)2) Flying pilot did not maintain proper track (distraction due to wake turbulence?)This is another case where both pilots started to assume the same roles - aircraft control was in question due to the wake turbulence so both pilots were focusing on aircraft control and no-one was monitoring the flight path or the autopilot. This is another reminder that each pilot ought to focus on his/her own role as pilot flying or pilot monitoring. NOTE: neither pilot was using their EFB at this time.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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	1295527
Time
Date	201509
Place
Locale Reference	ATL.Airport
State Reference	GA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 900 (CRJ900)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	SID NOVSS7
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter

A CRJ900 flight crew reported a deviation from cleared departure route when they were distracted by the bright early morning sun and a wake turbulence encounter departing atl in trail of a B737.