<< >> NASA ASRS Report 843388, July 2009

A C421 pilot's HSI malfunctioned causing the autopilot to induce rolls distracting him. During descent in haze to the destination airport in hilly terrain; the pilot dealing with the malfunctioning HSI and unfamiliar with the airport had difficulty finding the destination.

Attributes
ACN	843388
Time
Date	200907
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Golden Eagle 421
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent Initial Approach
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Compass (HSI/ETC)
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 1100 Flight Crew Type 60
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

Enroute; initial clearance amended prior to reaching XXX1 VORTAC. Just before change in clearance; HSI malfunctioned; secondarily causing autopilot to perform uncommanded rolls. Autopilot disengaged; HSI distracting and covered with post-it note. Used co-pilots dg and magnetic compass and GPS for heading changes. Hand flying and copying new clearance problematic (being left-handed makes this worse). ATC identified heading to XXX2 VORTAC; instead of XXX3 VORTAC first. Subsequently cleared direct destination airport. Hazy conditions and hilly terrain made spotting airport difficult; and flew past. ATC provided vector; and after that spotted airport and made uneventful landing. I believe problem stemmed from combination of HSI/autopilot malfunction distraction; leading to pilot work overload; compounded by hazy conditions/hilly terrain which was unfamiliar; all at the end of the second leg of long cross-country flight. (HSI replaced prior to departure).

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C421 pilot's HSI malfunctioned causing the autopilot to induce rolls distracting him. During descent in haze to the destination airport in hilly terrain; the pilot dealing with the malfunctioning HSI and unfamiliar with the airport had difficulty finding the destination.

Narrative: Enroute; initial clearance amended prior to reaching XXX1 VORTAC. Just before change in clearance; HSI malfunctioned; secondarily causing autopilot to perform uncommanded rolls. Autopilot disengaged; HSI distracting and covered with post-it note. Used co-pilots DG and magnetic compass and GPS for heading changes. Hand flying and copying new clearance problematic (being left-handed makes this worse). ATC identified heading to XXX2 VORTAC; instead of XXX3 VORTAC first. Subsequently cleared direct destination airport. Hazy conditions and hilly terrain made spotting airport difficult; and flew past. ATC provided vector; and after that spotted airport and made uneventful landing. I believe problem stemmed from combination of HSI/autopilot malfunction distraction; leading to pilot work overload; compounded by hazy conditions/hilly terrain which was unfamiliar; all at the end of the second leg of long cross-country flight. (HSI replaced prior to departure).

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.