Narrative:

After a last minute change from the ACARS pre departure clearance (an obdag RNAV departure from runway 10); clearance verbally assigned us the uxaba RNAV departure off of runway 11. This is what the captain entered in the FMS; what we cross-checked; and what we flew. We were assigned an initial altitude of 2;600 ft; which is an altitude not normally associated with that published RNAV departure; per se. It was after climbout that we realized that we might have made a mistake on our departure. ATIS stated that 'mixed mode operations' were in effect and; as one can see on the jeppesen 10-3 page; there is a procedure for initial climb during 'mixed mode operations.' for runway 11; it is to 'climb to 1;500 ft; turn right; 150 heading; climbing to 2;600 ft; further with radar.' the combination of our seemingly non-standard; initial departure altitude of 2;600 ft and the ATIS note 'mixed mode operations' worried us. It is my opinion that we flew the correct departure but I believe it is ambiguous; at best. We were never notified of a route deviation by any controlling agency; nor were we ever giving a radar heading by ATC; which we should have gotten if we were expected to fly the 'mixed mode operation' departure with 'further with radar' as part of the procedure. As well; in none of the many contacts with clearance (after they changed our departure 2 minutes prior to push back) did they make mention of the uxaba RNAV departure being modified by the ATIS note. I believe this event was caused by three things: first; a heavy workload (i.e. The change of our digital pre departure clearance 2 minutes prior to push and to something completely unexpected) caused us to drop the ATIS 'mixed mode' note out of our scan. Next; we failed to cross-check this ATIS note with departure to see if; in fact; this ATIS note in any way superseded/modified our clearance or if departure wanted/expected us to fly the SID as published. And finally; an ambiguity in the vidp departure pages; in that it does not explicitly state something to the effect that 'any time mixed mode operations are in effect; the clearance-assigned SID will be modified accordingly.' vidp clearance certainly did not say anything to this effect.this type of event is; unfortunately; always possible at vidp. ATC there presents many challenges and I cannot say for certain that even if we had cross-checked this ATIS note with clearance; that they would have been able to state their intentions for us clearly. That however is a long-term problem which vidp ATC can only fix with modernization and a major mindset shift. In the immediate term; we should contact vidp ATC regarding this issue and send an [operational bulletin] to vidp operating crews confirming the expectations of vidp ATC in this exact situation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The flight crew of a commercial transport aircraft was given a revised runway and RNAV SID with their taxi clearance at VIDP. During the hurried attempt to reprogram the changes while taxiing for takeoff they failed to re-consult the separate departure chart detailing 'INITIAL CLIMB PROCEDURES DURING MIXED MODE OPERATION' which specifies: a different first turn altitude; a different heading to which to turn; a different altitude to which to climb following the turn; and the directive to expect '...further with radar.' They also advised they failed to comply with a directive to limit rate of climb to 1;500 FPM.

Narrative: After a last minute change from the ACARS PDC (an OBDAG RNAV departure from Runway 10); clearance verbally assigned us the UXABA RNAV departure off of Runway 11. This is what the Captain entered in the FMS; what we cross-checked; and what we flew. We were assigned an initial altitude of 2;600 FT; which is an altitude not normally associated with that published RNAV departure; per se. It was after climbout that we realized that we might have made a mistake on our departure. ATIS stated that 'Mixed Mode Operations' were in effect and; as one can see on the Jeppesen 10-3 page; there is a procedure for initial climb during 'mixed mode operations.' For Runway 11; it is to 'climb to 1;500 FT; turn right; 150 heading; climbing to 2;600 FT; further with radar.' The combination of our seemingly non-standard; initial departure altitude of 2;600 FT and the ATIS note 'Mixed Mode Operations' worried us. It is my opinion that we flew the correct departure but I believe it is ambiguous; at best. We were never notified of a route deviation by any controlling agency; nor were we ever giving a radar heading by ATC; which we should have gotten if we were expected to fly the 'Mixed Mode Operation' departure with 'further with radar' as part of the procedure. As well; in none of the many contacts with clearance (after they changed our departure 2 minutes prior to push back) did they make mention of the UXABA RNAV departure being modified by the ATIS note. I believe this event was caused by three things: First; a heavy workload (i.e. the change of our digital PDC 2 minutes prior to push and to something completely unexpected) caused us to drop the ATIS 'Mixed Mode' note out of our scan. Next; we failed to cross-check this ATIS note with departure to see if; in fact; this ATIS note in any way superseded/modified our clearance or if departure wanted/expected us to fly the SID as published. And finally; an ambiguity in the VIDP departure pages; in that it does not explicitly state something to the effect that 'any time Mixed Mode Operations are in effect; the clearance-assigned SID will be modified accordingly.' VIDP clearance certainly did not say anything to this effect.This type of event is; unfortunately; always possible at VIDP. ATC there presents many challenges and I cannot say for certain that even if we HAD cross-checked this ATIS note with clearance; that they would have been able to state their intentions for us clearly. That however is a long-term problem which VIDP ATC can only fix with modernization and a major mindset shift. In the immediate term; we should contact VIDP ATC regarding this issue and send an [operational bulletin] to VIDP operating crews confirming the expectations of VIDP ATC in this exact situation.

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.