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Air carrier flight crew reported an erroneous frequency change that resulted in a track heading deviation.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1738292 |
| Time | |
| Date | 202003 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Dusk |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types |
Narrative:
With the covid-19 threat; the airspace was very empty and we were being vectored to an ILS in ZZZ in VMC. I was the captain pilot monitoring and we discussed the option of a visual approach while being vectored on final because of the extremely low flight density. In anticipation of the handoff to ZZZ tower; I tuned the #1 radio to xxy.Z and accidentally set that as the active radio frequency prior to receiving a final vector and approach clearance from ATC. The radio chatter was so light that I never realized I had gotten ahead of myself by activating this frequency. We flew east over ZZZ1 and I began to feel it was strange we were not being vectored when ATC called us on xax.B. I immediately switched back to xay.bb (approach; and we received a vector and clearance to get back on the approach). We made a steeper than normal turn (about 40 degrees) to get back due to ATC's request we were expeditious. We became stabilized for the rest of the approach.loss of usual busy ATC talking cues due to covid-19 event. Fixation on potential visual approach. Errors: changed frequency to tower prior to receiving vectors and clearance for approach. Missed ATC instructions which caused us to overshoot our turn to final.company procedure is sufficient. I personally need to maintain my vigilance; especially when in abnormal airspace situation such as that created by the covid-19 outbreak.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air carrier flight crew reported an erroneous frequency change that resulted in a track heading deviation.
Narrative: With the COVID-19 threat; the airspace was very empty and we were being vectored to an ILS in ZZZ in VMC. I was the Captain Pilot Monitoring and we discussed the option of a visual approach while being vectored on final because of the extremely low flight density. In anticipation of the handoff to ZZZ Tower; I tuned the #1 radio to XXY.Z and accidentally set that as the active radio frequency prior to receiving a final vector and approach clearance from ATC. The radio chatter was so light that I never realized I had gotten ahead of myself by activating this frequency. We flew east over ZZZ1 and I began to feel it was strange we were not being vectored when ATC called us on XAX.B. I immediately switched back to XAY.BB (approach; and we received a vector and clearance to get back on the approach). We made a steeper than normal turn (about 40 degrees) to get back due to ATC's request we were expeditious. We became stabilized for the rest of the approach.Loss of usual busy ATC talking cues due to COVID-19 event. Fixation on potential visual approach. Errors: Changed frequency to Tower prior to receiving vectors and clearance for approach. Missed ATC instructions which caused us to overshoot our turn to final.Company procedure is sufficient. I personally need to maintain my vigilance; especially when in abnormal airspace situation such as that created by the COVID-19 outbreak.
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.