When a CE680's clearance direct to a fix and on course required a 100 degree turn at the fix; ATC wa...

Attributes
ACN	951452
Time
Date	201105
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZAB.ARTCC
State Reference	NM
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna Citation Sovereign (C680)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Direct Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	FMS/FMC
Person 1
Function	First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 3800 Flight Crew Type 120
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 4300 Flight Crew Type 250
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types
Miss Distance	Horizontal 60000 Vertical 1100

Narrative:

We were cleared via the drake 1 RNAV departure to wateg then via radar vectors to drk then elp and enroute. Shortly after takeoff; we were given a radar vector on a west-northwest heading out at 4;000 MSL. We were then handed off to albuquerque center and given direct drk and a climb to FL190. The heading direct to drk was approximately 003 degrees and our flight planned course after drk was to incept the 102 degree course to elp. This set us up for a 100 degree turn to the right. With drk in the FMS as a fly by waypoint; the computer calculated an early turn to put us on course to elp. This caused us to turn approximately 8 miles before reaching drk. ATC was not prepared for the early turn and this put us within 10 miles and 1;100 ft of a boeing 737 descending into phoenix. The controller instructed us to turn left and proceed back to drk; then fly over drk; and make a right 270 degree turn to re-intercept our course to elp. We were given a phone number to call about a possible pilot deviation.when the PIC called; the supervisor stated that they (air traffic control) were not prepared for the early turn. They are prepared for other types of aircraft (airbus aircraft are known to do this) to make turns that early but did not know that the ce-680 would do so. He said they would learn from this situation and the PIC stated that he had learned from this as well. We (PIC and sic) now know that the aircraft may turn earlier than ATC expects and we may need to take the aircraft out of navigation mode and put it in heading mode to make sure we pass closer to a fix.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: When a CE680's clearance direct to a fix and on course required a 100 degree turn at the fix; ATC was not anticipating the FMS turning prior to the (fly by) fix and a loss of separation with another aircraft occurred.

Narrative: We were cleared via the Drake 1 RNAV departure to WATEG then via radar vectors to DRK then ELP and enroute. Shortly after takeoff; we were given a radar vector on a west-northwest heading out at 4;000 MSL. We were then handed off to Albuquerque Center and given direct DRK and a climb to FL190. The heading direct to DRK was approximately 003 degrees and our flight planned course after DRK was to incept the 102 degree course to ELP. This set us up for a 100 degree turn to the right. With DRK in the FMS as a fly by waypoint; the computer calculated an early turn to put us on course to ELP. This caused us to turn approximately 8 miles before reaching DRK. ATC was not prepared for the early turn and this put us within 10 miles and 1;100 FT of a Boeing 737 descending into Phoenix. The Controller instructed us to turn left and proceed back to DRK; then fly over DRK; and make a right 270 degree turn to re-intercept our course to ELP. We were given a phone number to call about a possible pilot deviation.When the PIC called; the supervisor stated that they (air traffic control) were not prepared for the early turn. They are prepared for other types of aircraft (Airbus aircraft are known to do this) to make turns that early but did not know that the CE-680 would do so. He said they would learn from this situation and the PIC stated that he had learned from this as well. We (PIC and SIC) now know that the aircraft may turn earlier than ATC expects and we may need to take the aircraft out of NAV mode and put it in HDG mode to make sure we pass closer to a fix.

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.