Air carrier flight crew is vectored around thunderstorms during departure then cleared direct hays c...

Attributes
ACN	1007029
Time
Date	201204
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	DEN.Airport
State Reference	CO
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	FMS/FMC
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120 Flight Crew Total 10000 Flight Crew Type 4500
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 14000 Flight Crew Type 5000
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

We departed runway 8 at den. Thunderstorms were blocking the yellowstone departure with the hanki transition. This was our filed route. We were given a heading to fly after departing runway 8. The heading was keeping us south of the weather. After climbing past the storms; we were given a revised route. Direct hct direct FOD as filed. I had the autopilot on. I quickly entered what I thought was the correct course into the FMC. Mistakenly entering hys; which is hays; kansas; instead of entering hct hays center; then FOD. It looked reasonable on the display. The direction; distance; and letters (hys). So; we agreed and I executed the route. The captain then informed dispatch of the route change. After flying for a few minutes; ATC asked us if we were now turning direct (hct)? We replied we were. They then cleared us direct FOD. After wondering why they asked us this; we realized I had entered hys for hct. Hys was about 25 to 30 degrees further south of hct. We didn't confirm hct off the chart because at the time we only had our filed departure procedure; the yellowstone hanki transition; out. Hct was not on this chart. Also; like I said; the letters hys; hct; name hays; hays center; distance; and heading all seemed reasonable. Also; we were distracted by the weather and informing dispatch of the new route of flight.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew is vectored around thunderstorms during departure then cleared direct Hays Center; direct Fort Dodge; FPR. HYS is mistakenly entered for HCT resulting in ATC questioning the route and issuing a revised clearance.

Narrative: We departed Runway 8 at DEN. Thunderstorms were blocking the Yellowstone Departure with the HANKI transition. This was our filed route. We were given a heading to fly after departing Runway 8. The heading was keeping us south of the weather. After climbing past the storms; we were given a revised route. Direct HCT direct FOD as filed. I had the autopilot on. I quickly entered what I thought was the correct course into the FMC. Mistakenly entering HYS; which is Hays; Kansas; instead of entering HCT Hays Center; then FOD. It looked reasonable on the display. The direction; distance; and letters (HYS). So; we agreed and I executed the route. The Captain then informed Dispatch of the route change. After flying for a few minutes; ATC asked us if we were now turning direct (HCT)? We replied we were. They then cleared us direct FOD. After wondering why they asked us this; we realized I had entered HYS for HCT. HYS was about 25 to 30 degrees further south of HCT. We didn't confirm HCT off the Chart because at the time we only had our filed departure procedure; the Yellowstone HANKI transition; out. HCT was not on this chart. Also; like I said; the letters HYS; HCT; Name Hays; Hays Center; distance; and heading all seemed reasonable. Also; we were distracted by the weather and informing dispatch of the new route of flight.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

Air carrier flight crew is vectored around thunderstorms during departure then cleared direct hays center; direct fort dodge; fpr. Hys is mistakenly entered for hct resulting in ATC questioning the route and issuing a revised clearance.