Narrative:

At the gate; I; the captain; loaded the entire flight plan plus arrival into FMS. When we taxied out we got a runway assignment. The first officer plugged in the new runway and hit activate; which in turn kicked the whole flight plan out. He plugged it all back in; verbally confirming the route as he entered; (he said it out loud). I told him that was the correct route. He went to put in the arrival and it was still in there from before. So he did not re input it again which you must do when the flight plan is kicked out; (it says it's there but it's not). He went back to the flight plan screen and asked; I looked at the mileage on the progress page; and verified he had put in the correct runway on the flight plan page and he activated it. I thought he had done it correctly. I did not check the route page; because we were number one and I was still taxiing; normal take off and climb. Arriving at the first arrival fix; the aircraft didn't turn right. ATC queried us. I replied that we would look at our FMS to see what it was doing. Discovered the arrival not in system; I had my range low; and was starting to get ATIS and landing numbers; so I didn't see that the course was a bee line for our landing airport nor did I see it on the FMS because I was in another screen; radios; and ats; and landing speeds etc. I requested next fix on the arrival; they replied go direct the second fix and join. We did. Flight continued normally. While I thought he had reentered it in the system and he did say it; he didn't. I should have looked; of course; at the route page; and not just the mileage and the first page in the flight plan to see if he had loaded the correct runway before he had activated it. I assumed since he said out loud the arrival; he re input it. While it is an anomaly that out flight plans do drop out; at some (but not all) airports; when you add runways after the fact; it is a 'known' problem with our FMS that has never been fixed for some reason. Next time I'll be sure to stop the aircraft and take the time to check to see if my first officer did indeed enter the flight plan in to the FMS properly. I will also make sure they are paying attention to the next fix on the route; and cross checking it with their charts. Ultimately it is my responsibility as a captain.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An ERJ170's takeoff runway was changed during taxi causing the entire flight plan to drop out and requiring flight plan reentry. The STAR appeared to remain in the flight plan but a track deviation occurred because it too had dropped out although the FMS indicated its presence.

Narrative: At the gate; I; the Captain; loaded the entire flight plan plus arrival into FMS. When we taxied out we got a runway assignment. The First Officer plugged in the new runway and hit activate; which in turn kicked the whole flight plan out. He plugged it all back in; verbally confirming the route as he entered; (he said it out loud). I told him that was the correct route. He went to put in the arrival and it was still in there from before. SO he did not re input it again which you must do when the flight plan is kicked out; (it says it's there but it's not). He went back to the Flight Plan screen and asked; I looked at the Mileage on the Progress Page; and verified he had put in the correct runway on the Flight Plan page and he activated it. I thought he had done it correctly. I did not check the Route page; because we were number one and I was still taxiing; normal take off and climb. Arriving at the first arrival fix; the aircraft didn't turn right. ATC queried us. I replied that we would look at our FMS to see what it was doing. Discovered the Arrival not in system; I had my range low; and was starting to get ATIS and landing numbers; so I didn't see that the course was a bee line for our landing airport nor did I see it on the FMS because I was in another screen; RADIOS; and ATS; and LANDING SPEEDS etc. I requested next fix on the arrival; they replied go direct the second fix and join. We did. Flight continued normally. While I thought he had reentered it in the system and he did say it; he didn't. I should have looked; of course; at the Route page; and not just the mileage and the first page in the Flight Plan to see if he had loaded the correct runway before he had activated it. I assumed since he said out loud the arrival; he re input it. While it is an anomaly that out flight plans do drop out; at some (but not all) airports; when you add runways after the fact; it is a 'known' problem with our FMS that has never been fixed for some reason. Next time I'll be sure to stop the aircraft and take the time to check to see if my First Officer did indeed enter the flight plan in to the FMS properly. I will also make sure they are paying attention to the next fix on the route; and cross checking it with their charts. Ultimately it is my responsibility as a Captain.

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.