A fractional carrier first officer reported that his FMS's pdx river 6 database was not properly cod...

Narrative:

Departed pdx runway 10R; assigned the river 6 departure procedure. Loaded that departure into the FMS from its database. For the departure; the PF used the FMS to fly the departure; while I (the pm) had the raw VOR data (pdx 085 radial) on my side as a cross-check. Shortly after takeoff; the tower controller said something to the effect of; 'confirm you're turning left to join the 085 radial and contact departure.' we confirmed that we were starting the turn; as the FMS course was starting to come alive from the right; and contacted departure. As we continued; I noticed that the intercept was very shallow. I checked the FMS; and it was flying a 082 course to intercept that 085 radial; and wouldn't actually intercept until some 6 miles from the airport. My raw VOR needle on my screen was still full-scale to the left; and I suggested to the PF that I thought something wasn't right with the FMS course. He concurred; and switched his side to the VOR; and turned the airplane about 20 degrees left to more quickly join the radial. I'd suggest a reevaluation of the coding of the river 6 departure; as I believe it's erroneous. The shallow (3-degree) intercept angle clearly surprised ATC (which is why we abandoned it); and since this departure is designed for noise abatement; flying some six miles before joining the radial would completely defeat its purpose. Recoding the procedure so it aims for a closer point that creates a 20-30 degree intercept; instead of a 3 degree one; would probably fix the issue. Also; the coding for the departure has the aircraft flying that 082 course between the runway end and a lat/long fix about six miles away. After that; it says to fly a '085 heading;' which is incorrect. Both the graphic and textual descriptions instruct us to 'proceed via the pdx 085 radial;' which continues to the published fix crown. In the FMS coding; crown does not appear at all. Because the coding goes direct from the 082 intercept course to a heading; the pdx 085 radial is not actually coded anywhere on the departure. Any significant wind would set the aircraft up for a course deviation. Until the coding is revised; the only possible way to fly along the pdx 085 radial is to use the raw VHF data; or program it manually in the FMS. The river 6 in the database does not actually join that radial at any point.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Fractional Carrier First Officer reported that his FMS's PDX RIVER 6 database was not properly coded because it did not track the PDX 082 Radial and the fix CROWN is not part of the procedure.

Narrative: Departed PDX Runway 10R; assigned the RIVER 6 departure procedure. Loaded that departure into the FMS from its database. For the departure; the PF used the FMS to fly the departure; while I (the PM) had the raw VOR data (PDX 085 radial) on my side as a cross-check. Shortly after takeoff; the Tower Controller said something to the effect of; 'Confirm you're turning left to join the 085 radial and contact departure.' We confirmed that we were starting the turn; as the FMS course was starting to come alive from the right; and contacted Departure. As we continued; I noticed that the intercept was VERY shallow. I checked the FMS; and it was flying a 082 course to intercept that 085 radial; and wouldn't actually intercept until some 6 miles from the airport. My raw VOR needle on my screen was still full-scale to the left; and I suggested to the PF that I thought something wasn't right with the FMS course. He concurred; and switched his side to the VOR; and turned the airplane about 20 degrees left to more quickly join the radial. I'd suggest a reevaluation of the coding of the RIVER 6 departure; as I believe it's erroneous. The shallow (3-degree) intercept angle clearly surprised ATC (which is why we abandoned it); and since this departure is designed for noise abatement; flying some six miles before joining the radial would completely defeat its purpose. Recoding the procedure so it aims for a closer point that creates a 20-30 degree intercept; instead of a 3 degree one; would probably fix the issue. Also; the coding for the departure has the aircraft flying that 082 course between the runway end and a lat/long fix about six miles away. After that; it says to fly a '085 Heading;' which is incorrect. Both the graphic and textual descriptions instruct us to 'proceed via the PDX 085 RADIAL;' which continues to the published fix CROWN. In the FMS coding; CROWN does not appear at all. Because the coding goes direct from the 082 intercept course to a heading; the PDX 085 radial is not actually coded anywhere on the departure. Any significant wind would set the aircraft up for a course deviation. Until the coding is revised; the only possible way to fly along the PDX 085 radial is to use the raw VHF data; or program it manually in the FMS. The RIVER 6 in the database does not actually join that radial at any point.

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.

Attributes
ACN	907561
Time
Date	201009
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	PDX.Airport
State Reference	OR
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Light Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb Initial Climb
Route In Use	SID RIVER 6
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	FMS/FMC
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

A fractional carrier first officer reported that his FMS's pdx river 6 database was not properly coded because it did not track the pdx 082 radial and the fix crown is not part of the procedure.