Date: 201507
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: LAX.Airport, CA
Flight conditions: VMC
Weather elements / visibility: Turbulence
Aircraft: MD-11
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Cargo / Freight / Delivery
Flight phase: Initial Approach
Airspace: Class E SCT
ATC / advisory: TRACON SCT
Aircraft component: FMS/FMC
Component problem: Improperly Operated
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Pilot Not Flying; First Officer
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Human factors: Confusion
Second reporter function: Captain; Pilot Flying
Anomaly: Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Flight Crew; Person Air Traffic Control
When detected: In-flight
Result: Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Contributing factors: Human Factors
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: Captain flying. Captain built the ILS 25L approach in the FMS and briefed it. First Officer (Pilot Monitoring) reviewed active flight plan point by point with constraints for SEAVU arrival to ILS 25L into LAX. Crew was cleared to descend via SEAVU arrival and Cleared for ILS 25L approach. Crossing SEAVU it suddenly became apparent that the active waypoint was not appropriate for the ILS 25L approach appearing to be the ILS 24L instead. Crew worked together to reinsert the correct approach and made correction back to appropriate course. At that point the data tag indicated the aircraft was 1.1 nm right of course. At the same time the crew made turn back to course; LA Approach controller inquired; 'are you correcting back to course for ILS 25L approach?' We responded in the affirmative; continued the approach and landing without incident. The Captain admitted that at some point after the brief; he made FMS Changes to the secondary flight plan and believed he accidently switched with the active flight plan with neither crew member recognizing the mistake.Pilot Flying accidently swapping secondary with active flight plan in FMSMore awareness and coordination on behalf of both pilots when FMS changes are made.


Second narrative: During preparation for arrival into LAX I built and briefed the SEAVU arrival and RWY 25L ILS approach. After briefing with my FO; I decided to build the arrival and RWY 24R approach in the secondary just in case they gave that to us. My F/O pointed out that the other runway offered was the ILS 24L and that is because RWY 24R was reported as closed. I noticed that also when I told him what I was doing. I then went back in and rebuilt the ILS RWY 24L. That is where I must have made a mistake and actually loaded RWY 24L in the active flight plan in the FMS. We had already briefed the whole arrival going into LAX with 25L and so we did not notice the change since the arrival is the same until the plane gets to SEAVU waypoint. After SEAVU waypoint the heading is the same for all runways and the only thing different is the waypoint that begins the approach for each runway. As we were descending on the arrival I was verbalizing each waypoint and what was next as far an altitude and airspeed restrictions. When we got to SEAVU I noticed immediately that the next waypoint was not the waypoint that begins the RWY 25L approach. Since I was pilot flying I directed the FO to quickly enter the correct runway. By the time we got the ILS RWY 25L into the FMS we were very close to the point LUVYN which is the point that begins the approach for RWY 25L. This caused a slight overshoot and we turned to get back on course. There were never any altitude discrepancies and we then flew the approach and landing without incident. As I indicated earlier; I built the FMS and briefed the arrival and approach and then decided to go back and enter a different arrival and runway in the Secondary flight plan in the FMS. Normally I would do that during my initial build and brief and then the error would have been caught. Nevertheless; I made a mistake and built the arrival and approach for RWY 24R. We saw that ATIS showed the other approach was RWY 24L and not RWY 24R so I went back to the FMS and reentered the arrival and approach for RWY24L in the Secondary. This is where I must have mistakenly entered the arrival and approach for RWY24L in the Active flight plan. Since we had already briefed the whole arrival and approach for RWY25L we did not debrief the Active. As we progressed in the arrival I maintain a good watch on all altitudes and airspeed requirements and did not notice the wrong runway was in the Active until we got to SEAVU and I saw that the next waypoint was not the one I was expecting. We then fixed the problem.Lesson learned for me is to build and brief after all FMS inputs are complete. If you make a change after briefing make sure it is correct and that all information in the FMS is exactly what you want.


Synopsis: MD11 flight crew reports being cleared for the SEAVU2 Arrival to the ILS 25L at LAX and the FMC is programed accordingly. Crossing SEAVU it suddenly became apparent that the active waypoint was not appropriate for the ILS 25L approach appearing to be the ILS 24L instead. The crew quickly corrects the FMC just as SCT takes notice of the track deviation. The Captain may have accidentally switched the secondary flight plan in the FMC.