<< >> NASA ASRS Report 1262186, May 2015

B737-800 flight crew reported they misunderstood the controller's clearance and a track deviation resulted.

Attributes
ACN	1262186
Time
Date	201505
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZDC.ARTCC
State Reference	VA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-800
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 192 Flight Crew Type 192
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 157 Flight Crew Type 6000
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Narrative:

Washington center cleared us direct to stevy (pronounced stee-vee by the controller) waypoint along our filed route; but there was some static/background noise that made interpreting the fix name a little ambiguous. We both consulted the legs page of the FMC to see if there was a waypoint that looked like what we thought we heard. Seeing the waypoint gbees further down the legs page (which we assumed is pronounced gee-bee-ZZZ); we concluded this was the fix ATC was referring to. I read back cleared direct gee-bee-ZZZ; with extra effort to articulate it clearly; and the controller did not issue a correction. We brought gbees to the top of the legs page and executed the route change. Approximately five minutes later the controller asked us if we are still proceeding to stevy waypoint (it was clearer that time); and we replied that we understood and read back direct to gbees. The controller said the original clearance was for stevy; but that we were now cleared direct hnn VOR; further down our route.

Related reports:

• Flight crew misunderstood controllers 'expect crossing' clea...
• Lear 25 flight crew misunderstood controller's clearance.
• An SR22 pilot took off without clearance because he misunder...
• An first officer flying the psp sbono 1 arrival misunderstoo...

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web www.37000feet.com

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-800 flight crew reported they misunderstood the Controller's clearance and a track deviation resulted.

Narrative: Washington Center cleared us direct to STEVY (pronounced STEE-VEE by the Controller) waypoint along our filed route; but there was some static/background noise that made interpreting the fix name a little ambiguous. We both consulted the LEGS page of the FMC to see if there was a waypoint that looked like what we thought we heard. Seeing the waypoint GBEES further down the LEGS page (which we assumed is pronounced GEE-BEE-ZZZ); we concluded this was the fix ATC was referring to. I read back cleared direct GEE-BEE-ZZZ; with extra effort to articulate it clearly; and the Controller did not issue a correction. We brought GBEES to the top of the LEGS page and executed the route change. Approximately five minutes later the Controller asked us if we are still proceeding to STEVY waypoint (it was clearer that time); and we replied that we understood and read back direct to GBEES. The Controller said the original clearance was for STEVY; but that we were now cleared direct HNN VOR; further down our route.

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.