Narrative:

I was working north departure and had been for maybe half an hour prior to the event. We were in a slight lull; definitely not heavy on departures. Aircraft X's strip printed and I was waiting for him to check-in. As my scan came back to aircraft X; I noticed he was not on his SID. The aircraft actually appeared to be heading southwest directly toward an A320 that had departed [runway] 27R. I tried to make contact with aircraft X; but they were not on my frequency yet. At that point it looked as though they were correcting back to the northwest. As that was happening; aircraft Y tagged on my scope. Aircraft X was a northbound departure; and aircraft Y was a westbound departure. Aircraft X turning back to the northwest meant that they were now cutting off aircraft Y. Rather than call the local controller and coordinate at that exact moment; I gave them an opportunity to resolve the issue while I notified my controller in charge and the south departure controller. At that point; calling the local controller and talking would have only added to problem. They obviously had to ensure separation first. Not even 30 seconds later; the local controller called me and coordinated aircraft X on a 305 degree heading and aircraft Y on a 320 degree heading. As this was happening I noticed aircraft Z tagging off the departure end. Aircraft Z was a northbound departure; so now aircraft Y on a 320 heading was a factor for aircraft Z on the SID. I immediately called the local back and told him to stop departures. From this point on; visual separation was applied by tower on all three departures. So far as the separation is concerned; I was informed visual was applied. Better trained local control. Adhere to what is coordinated over the land line.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A80 Controller and the CRJ200 flight crew involved describe a heading error on departure and the resulting conflicts that develop.

Narrative: I was working North Departure and had been for maybe half an hour prior to the event. We were in a slight lull; definitely not heavy on departures. Aircraft X's strip printed and I was waiting for him to check-in. As my scan came back to Aircraft X; I noticed he was not on his SID. The aircraft actually appeared to be heading southwest directly toward an A320 that had departed [Runway] 27R. I tried to make contact with Aircraft X; but they were not on my frequency yet. At that point it looked as though they were correcting back to the northwest. As that was happening; Aircraft Y tagged on my scope. Aircraft X was a northbound departure; and Aircraft Y was a westbound departure. Aircraft X turning back to the northwest meant that they were now cutting off Aircraft Y. Rather than call the Local Controller and coordinate at that exact moment; I gave them an opportunity to resolve the issue while I notified my CIC and the South Departure Controller. At that point; calling the Local Controller and talking would have only added to problem. They obviously had to ensure separation first. Not even 30 seconds later; the Local Controller called me and coordinated Aircraft X on a 305 degree heading and Aircraft Y on a 320 degree heading. As this was happening I noticed Aircraft Z tagging off the departure end. Aircraft Z was a northbound departure; so now Aircraft Y on a 320 heading was a factor for Aircraft Z on the SID. I immediately called the Local back and told him to stop departures. From this point on; visual separation was applied by Tower on all three departures. So far as the separation is concerned; I was informed visual was applied. Better trained Local Control. Adhere to what is coordinated over the land line.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.