Narrative:

We were flying the drake 1 departure from sky harbor international. He had just passed rsz NDB when ATC told us to 'turn left heading 360 degrees,' I think, 'vector to join the drake departure.' I turned left and set the srp 330 degree right in my HSI. I leveled off at 9000' (our assigned altitude), and intercepted the 330 degree right when it came alive. About this time ATC pointed out traffic ahead crossing right to left and cleared us to 16000'. We started our climb, then ATC said to turn right heading 010 degrees, traffic 1 O'clock, crossing right to left. We turned and passed behind the traffic. ATC did not say we had done anything wrong, but from the tone in his voice when he gave us the 010 degree heading and later when he handed us over to center I sensed that he was not pleased with what had happened. We suspect that he wanted us to stay on the 360 degree heading until was passed behind the second crossing aircraft. He gave us the climb out of 9000' before noticing that we had intercepted the srp 330 degree right. The traffic we thought he was giving us the first time was actually ahead of the traffic he wanted us to see, but since we had turned we were looking the wrong direction. Contributing to this situation was tendency of controllers to give us early turns to the srp 330 degree right, prior to reaching the srp 030 degree right/8 DME fix, so we were conditioned. Also, if the controller had said, 'fly heading 360 degrees, vector for traffic,' I would have known better what was going on and definitely would not have joined the 330 degree right.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LESS THAN STANDARD SEPARATION WHEN RADIAL WAS INTERCEPTED SOONER THAN INTENDED BY ATC.

Narrative: WE WERE FLYING THE DRAKE 1 DEP FROM SKY HARBOR INTL. HE HAD JUST PASSED RSZ NDB WHEN ATC TOLD US TO 'TURN LEFT HDG 360 DEGS,' I THINK, 'VECTOR TO JOIN THE DRAKE DEP.' I TURNED LEFT AND SET THE SRP 330 DEG R IN MY HSI. I LEVELED OFF AT 9000' (OUR ASSIGNED ALT), AND INTERCEPTED THE 330 DEG R WHEN IT CAME ALIVE. ABOUT THIS TIME ATC POINTED OUT TFC AHEAD XING RIGHT TO LEFT AND CLRED US TO 16000'. WE STARTED OUR CLB, THEN ATC SAID TO TURN RIGHT HDG 010 DEGS, TFC 1 O'CLOCK, XING RIGHT TO LEFT. WE TURNED AND PASSED BEHIND THE TFC. ATC DID NOT SAY WE HAD DONE ANYTHING WRONG, BUT FROM THE TONE IN HIS VOICE WHEN HE GAVE US THE 010 DEG HDG AND LATER WHEN HE HANDED US OVER TO CENTER I SENSED THAT HE WAS NOT PLEASED WITH WHAT HAD HAPPENED. WE SUSPECT THAT HE WANTED US TO STAY ON THE 360 DEG HDG UNTIL WAS PASSED BEHIND THE SECOND XING ACFT. HE GAVE US THE CLB OUT OF 9000' BEFORE NOTICING THAT WE HAD INTERCEPTED THE SRP 330 DEG R. THE TFC WE THOUGHT HE WAS GIVING US THE FIRST TIME WAS ACTUALLY AHEAD OF THE TFC HE WANTED US TO SEE, BUT SINCE WE HAD TURNED WE WERE LOOKING THE WRONG DIRECTION. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS SITUATION WAS TENDENCY OF CTLRS TO GIVE US EARLY TURNS TO THE SRP 330 DEG R, PRIOR TO REACHING THE SRP 030 DEG R/8 DME FIX, SO WE WERE CONDITIONED. ALSO, IF THE CTLR HAD SAID, 'FLY HDG 360 DEGS, VECTOR FOR TFC,' I WOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER WHAT WAS GOING ON AND DEFINITELY WOULD NOT HAVE JOINED THE 330 DEG R.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 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.