Narrative:

Flying to mexico city with a new first officer, total company time 15 months, total time on the aircraft about 120 hours. Since it was the first officer's second time into mexico city, and the first officer had never landed there, first officer was flying. WX was partially obscured broken clouds, about 3 mi in smoke and fog, a 'milk bottle' approach. We were cleared the san mateo two arrival. ILS runway 5L. First officer was tracking out the san mateo 160 right on raw data. I was on mex VOR, raw data, to get the 248 right crossing. After I saw the 248 right pass, I changed altitude on the MCP set up the ILS for the first officer and myself. When I looked up after changing frequencys, I saw that the aircraft had been turned, away from the VOR in an attempt to capture the localizer. At the same time, mex approach gave us heading and altitude changes to reintercept the ILS. Landing was normal. The error was on my part, that I should not have had my head down until after the direction of turn was established. To be honest, I never expected the first officer to become confused and turn the wrong way. As a relatively new captain on the medium large transport (6 months), I thought that even a relatively new first officer would not turn the wrong direction on the approach. With my head down, and visibility next to nothing in the clouds, I knew that we were in a turn, but I was not aware that it was in the wrong direction. In the future, when a series of inside the cockpit changes are required, either they must be done with gaps in them (to monitor any critical procedures) or some sort of verbal 'walk through' must be done so the aircraft is correctly controled during any turns.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR MLG TURNS WRONG WAY ON INTERCEPT TO ILS AT MEX.

Narrative: FLYING TO MEXICO CITY WITH A NEW F/O, TOTAL COMPANY TIME 15 MONTHS, TOTAL TIME ON THE ACFT ABOUT 120 HRS. SINCE IT WAS THE F/O'S SECOND TIME INTO MEXICO CITY, AND THE F/O HAD NEVER LANDED THERE, F/O WAS FLYING. WX WAS PARTIALLY OBSCURED BROKEN CLOUDS, ABOUT 3 MI IN SMOKE AND FOG, A 'MILK BOTTLE' APCH. WE WERE CLRED THE SAN MATEO TWO ARR. ILS RWY 5L. F/O WAS TRACKING OUT THE SAN MATEO 160 R ON RAW DATA. I WAS ON MEX VOR, RAW DATA, TO GET THE 248 R XING. AFTER I SAW THE 248 R PASS, I CHANGED ALT ON THE MCP SET UP THE ILS FOR THE F/O AND MYSELF. WHEN I LOOKED UP AFTER CHANGING FREQS, I SAW THAT THE ACFT HAD BEEN TURNED, AWAY FROM THE VOR IN AN ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE THE LOC. AT THE SAME TIME, MEX APCH GAVE US HDG AND ALT CHANGES TO REINTERCEPT THE ILS. LNDG WAS NORMAL. THE ERROR WAS ON MY PART, THAT I SHOULD NOT HAVE HAD MY HEAD DOWN UNTIL AFTER THE DIRECTION OF TURN WAS ESTABLISHED. TO BE HONEST, I NEVER EXPECTED THE F/O TO BECOME CONFUSED AND TURN THE WRONG WAY. AS A RELATIVELY NEW CAPT ON THE MLG (6 MONTHS), I THOUGHT THAT EVEN A RELATIVELY NEW F/O WOULD NOT TURN THE WRONG DIRECTION ON THE APCH. WITH MY HEAD DOWN, AND VISIBILITY NEXT TO NOTHING IN THE CLOUDS, I KNEW THAT WE WERE IN A TURN, BUT I WAS NOT AWARE THAT IT WAS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. IN THE FUTURE, WHEN A SERIES OF INSIDE THE COCKPIT CHANGES ARE REQUIRED, EITHER THEY MUST BE DONE WITH GAPS IN THEM (TO MONITOR ANY CRITICAL PROCS) OR SOME SORT OF VERBAL 'WALK THROUGH' MUST BE DONE SO THE ACFT IS CORRECTLY CTLED DURING ANY TURNS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.