An air carrier on approach to ord runway 4R was issued a go around after receiving several conflicti...

Narrative:

[We had an] ATC loss of separation during approach to 4R ord. [We were] instructed by ATC to discontinue the approach and fly heading 250. Instructions [were] given by male voice; not original female voice of approach controller. Crew asked for clarification on direction of turn twice and received no response. Initiated a right turn to heading published on 4R approach chart. [We were] questioned by ATC male voice as to current heading and direction of turn. Told by ATC male voice that the turn was to be to the left and to fly new heading of 180. [We were] then instructed by ATC female voice to fly 250 heading. ATC male voice then questioned new heading and crew responded 250. Confusion arose from two different ATC controllers issuing different instructions and ATC failure to respond to crew queries in a timely manner. [We were] vectored back for another approach/landing 4R.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier on approach to ORD Runway 4R was issued a go around after receiving several conflicting headings. The reporter suspects training may have been a factor.

Narrative: [We had an] ATC loss of separation during approach to 4R ORD. [We were] instructed by ATC to discontinue the approach and fly heading 250. Instructions [were] given by male voice; not original female voice of Approach Controller. Crew asked for clarification on direction of turn twice and received no response. Initiated a right turn to heading published on 4R approach chart. [We were] questioned by ATC male voice as to current heading and direction of turn. Told by ATC male voice that the turn was to be to the left and to fly new heading of 180. [We were] then instructed by ATC female voice to fly 250 heading. ATC male voice then questioned new heading and crew responded 250. Confusion arose from two different ATC controllers issuing different instructions and ATC failure to respond to crew queries in a timely manner. [We were] vectored back for another approach/landing 4R.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1012895
Time
Date	201205
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ORD.Airport
State Reference	IL
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 140 ER/LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

An air carrier on approach to ord runway 4R was issued a go around after receiving several conflicting headings. The reporter suspects training may have been a factor.