Narrative:

I was the pilot flying into ord on the royko 3 RNAV arrival. We were over looth at 11;000 ft at a speed of 310 KIAS I believe. The ILS 22R was already assigned; loaded in the FMS; and briefed. ATC then changed our approach assignment to ILS 10. As I was loading the new runway into the FMS; ATC called again and changed the assignment again to the ILS 14R. I hadn't activated the FMS yet so I loaded the ILS 14R. I looked at the approach fixes; as did the first officer (pilot not flying); and then the flight attendant called us on the intercom. I asked the first officer if he liked how the FMS looked he said yes and I activated it. He went of radio 1 to answer the flight attendant and I looked down and to my left to find the approach plate for the new approach assignment. There was no chart holder so my head was in a very low position. After a few seconds I noticed a banking sensation and looked up to find the aircraft turning right direct to mzz which was the first fix on the arrival. The first officer noticed at the same time and said 'hey we're turning.' I immediately switched to heading mode and spun the heading knob left to start a left turn back to the proper course. I instructed the first officer to notify ATC of our error but as he reached for the ptt button the controller asked us to confirm we were on the arrival. The first officer notified him that our FMS had initiated a turn and we were turning back to course. The controller gave us a heading to rejoin but then changed his mind and instructed us to fly direct to the ord VOR. The controller also stated that another company aircraft did the same thing that same morning. I'm wondering if a new FMS load has been installed recently. In the past FMS arrivals to ord have not re-entered all fixes from the beginning when a runway has changed. This is a known event for dfw arrivals but I've never seen this going into ord. The remainder of the flight was uneventful and there was no loss of separation between aircraft. There were numerous contributing factors in this resulting error: -our failure to check every arrival fix before activating the FMS; we only checked the approach fixes due to being rushed -atcs numerous runway reassignments -the distraction caused by the flight attendant calling during a busy phase of flight -the lack of anywhere to place our charts in a 'heads-up' environment -the FMS software loading the entire arrival from the beginning when a runway is entered suggestions to prevent a repeat event: -I will double my efforts to check every fix anytime I make an entry into the FMS. -It would reduce pilot workload if ord ATC would not repeatedly change our runway assignment. It causes lots of FMS work and re-briefing which takes attention away from flying duties. It would help if ATC would wait until they are positive of runway assignment before telling us. -Perhaps sterile cockpit should be changed to 18;000 MSL. Going into busy airports like ord the arrival stage is often as busy if not more busy than the approach phase. -With the efb screens removed there is no way to attach the charts to the window area. The yoke clip does not flip up so is not functional for charts. -If there was indeed a software change that will cause the entire arrival to be re-entered for airports that never had this problem before I would suggest a memo be issued notifying the pilots. -In the future I will myself and instruct my first officer's to wait to answer until the intercom until we are completely done with the task at hand to prevent distraction.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB170 Captain experiences runway changes and other distractions during arrival to ORD on the ROYKO 3 RNAV. After the last runway change the FMC is activated and the aircraft attempts to return MZZ at the beginning of the arrival.

Narrative: I was the pilot flying into ORD on the ROYKO 3 RNAV Arrival. We were over LOOTH at 11;000 FT at a speed of 310 KIAS I believe. The ILS 22R was already assigned; loaded in the FMS; and briefed. ATC then changed our approach assignment to ILS 10. As I was loading the new runway into the FMS; ATC called again and changed the assignment again to the ILS 14R. I hadn't activated the FMS yet so I loaded the ILS 14R. I looked at the approach fixes; as did the First Officer (pilot not flying); and then the Flight Attendant called us on the intercom. I asked the First Officer if he liked how the FMS looked he said yes and I activated it. He went of Radio 1 to answer the Flight Attendant and I looked down and to my left to find the approach plate for the new approach assignment. There was no chart holder so my head was in a very low position. After a few seconds I noticed a banking sensation and looked up to find the aircraft turning right direct to MZZ which was the first fix on the arrival. The First Officer noticed at the same time and said 'Hey we're turning.' I immediately switched to heading mode and spun the heading knob left to start a left turn back to the proper course. I instructed the First Officer to notify ATC of our error but as he reached for the PTT button the Controller asked us to confirm we were on the arrival. The First Officer notified him that our FMS had initiated a turn and we were turning back to course. The Controller gave us a heading to rejoin but then changed his mind and instructed us to fly direct to the ORD VOR. The Controller also stated that another Company aircraft did the same thing that same morning. I'm wondering if a new FMS load has been installed recently. In the past FMS arrivals to ORD have not re-entered all fixes from the beginning when a runway has changed. This is a known event for DFW arrivals but I've never seen this going into ORD. The remainder of the flight was uneventful and there was no loss of separation between aircraft. There were numerous contributing factors in this resulting error: -Our failure to check every arrival fix before activating the FMS; we only checked the approach fixes due to being rushed -ATCs numerous runway reassignments -The distraction caused by the Flight Attendant calling during a busy phase of flight -The lack of anywhere to place our charts in a 'heads-up' environment -The FMS software loading the entire arrival from the beginning when a runway is entered Suggestions to prevent a repeat event: -I will double my efforts to check every fix anytime I make an entry into the FMS. -It would reduce pilot workload if ORD ATC would not repeatedly change our runway assignment. It causes lots of FMS work and re-briefing which takes attention away from flying duties. It would help if ATC would wait until they are positive of runway assignment before telling us. -Perhaps sterile cockpit should be changed to 18;000 MSL. Going into busy airports like ORD the arrival stage is often as busy if not more busy than the approach phase. -With the EFB screens removed there is no way to attach the charts to the window area. The yoke clip does not flip up so is not functional for charts. -If there was indeed a software change that will cause the entire arrival to be re-entered for airports that never had this problem before I would suggest a memo be issued notifying the pilots. -In the future I will myself and instruct my First Officer's to wait to answer until the intercom until we are completely done with the task at hand to prevent distraction.

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.