Date: 201203
Local time of day: 1801-2400
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Light: Night
Aircraft: Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Takeoff / Launch
Airspace: Class B ZZZ
ATC / advisory: Tower ZZZ
Aircraft component: APU Electrical
Component problem: Improperly Operated
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: First Officer; Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Commercial
Human factors: Training / Qualification; Situational Awareness; Distraction
Second reporter function: Captain; Pilot Not Flying
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural MEL / CDL; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight; Taxi
Result: Aircraft Equipment Problem Dissipated
Contributing factors: Procedure; Human Factors
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: When we received the aircraft; the previous crew had written up the #2 AC Generator. Maintenance came and deferred the generator. Per the MEL operations instructions; we were to keep the APU running for the entire flight. The Captain and I discussed this as part of our pre-departure briefing. When Tower cleared us to position and hold; I ran the Takeoff Checklist and habitually turned off the APU. I realized my mistake and informed the Captain. We notified the Tower that we would need to exit the runway and get back in line to restart the APU. As we taxied back to the runway; we restarted the APU. As we taxied into position the 2nd time; the EFIS COMP MON caution message briefly appeared and then cleared. We verified the runway heading on both PFD's and they were correct. ATC cleared us for takeoff (RNAV) and we began the takeoff roll. At rotation and wheels off; both PFD's displayed the flight director red flag. I continued to hand fly the aircraft and the Captain immediately requested a heading from ATC. We were assigned a heading. We decided to turn on the autopilot to see if that would return our flight director. The autopilot was engaged and it was following the correct heading and climbing at the assigned speed of 250 KTS. The flight director did not display on either PFD's. After approximately 5 minutes; the flight director flags disappeared and the flight director displayed correctly. The flight continued without further incident. I believe the cause of this problem was the power transfer that occurred during the shutdown and restart of the APU prior to takeoff. After our flight director was restored en-route; we checked the FMS and saw that the PERF INIT and Initialize page data were missing. This typically happens when the AC power is disrupted to the aircraft. Since the APU was providing the AC source to Bus 2 when it was shutdown; a transfer to AC # 1 occurred. Once the APU was restarted; a transfer occurred again when the APU generator started supplying power to Bus 2. This incident illustrates why it is important to slow down when completing checklists and flows during abnormal operations to ensure they are completed properly. I shutdown the APU due to 'muscle memory' during the Takeoff Checklist even though we had discussed the MEL procedures for the deferred AC Generator during the pre-departure briefing.


Second narrative: [NO ADDITIONAL INFORMATIOM FROM NARRATIVE #2]


Synopsis: While taking the runway; a CRJ200 First Officer mistakenly shut down the APU which was needed because of a MEL'ed #2 engine generator but because navigation equipment was on #2 Bus when the APU was again started and put on Bus the equipment was confused by the power transfers so that the FMS and compass system did not display correctly on takeoff.