Captain of a widebody transport aircraft ferry flight declared an emergency during initial climb because of loss of aircraft heading control only to find a moment later that it was caused by the autoplt being left on after pre-takeoff checklist review.

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Attributes
ACN	253581
Time
Date	199310
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : sba
State Reference	CA
Altitude	msl bound lower : 2000 msl bound upper : 2000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : sba tower : ind
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Widebody, Low Wing, 3 Turbojet Eng
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	climbout : initial
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : second officer
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : instrument pilot : cfi pilot : commercial pilot : flight engineer
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 120 flight time total : 12000 flight time type : 2000
ASRS Report	253581
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : far non adherence : published procedure other anomaly
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : unspecified other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : overcame equipment problem flight crew : returned to intended course or assigned course
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Shortly after takeoff the captain said he had a control problem. I asked the nature of the problem as I had no unusual hydraulic indications or control jam indications. He was preoccupied with controling the aircraft but said he was unable to turn right. It was just a matter of moments after declaring an emergency that he found the autoplt on. Apparently, it had been left on inadvertently after the taxi check when it was checked for function.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CAPT OF A WDB ACFT FERRY FLT DECLARED AN EMER DURING INITIAL CLB BECAUSE OF LOSS OF ACFT HDG CTL ONLY TO FIND A MOMENT LATER THAT IT WAS CAUSED BY THE AUTOPLT BEING LEFT ON AFTER PRE-TKOF CHKLIST REVIEW.

Narrative: SHORTLY AFTER TKOF THE CAPT SAID HE HAD A CTL PROB. I ASKED THE NATURE OF THE PROB AS I HAD NO UNUSUAL HYD INDICATIONS OR CTL JAM INDICATIONS. HE WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH CTLING THE ACFT BUT SAID HE WAS UNABLE TO TURN R. IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF MOMENTS AFTER DECLARING AN EMER THAT HE FOUND THE AUTOPLT ON. APPARENTLY, IT HAD BEEN LEFT ON INADVERTENTLY AFTER THE TAXI CHK WHEN IT WAS CHKED FOR FUNCTION.

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.