Crj-200 first officer reported confusion in the cockpit when they were cleared for approach to runwa...

Narrative:

Approaching the end of the modesto five arrival; the captain had to query ATC which runway to expect.norcal responded '28 right'. A minute later; norcal cleared us for the 'FMS 28R'. Due to lack of familiarity with the arrival/FMS visual we had not loaded the approach beforehand and were not able to immediately find and load the approach in the FMS. We had to ask norcal for vectors/visual approach. We continued the approach and landing without incident and without any loss of separation.we believe the controller was referring to the 'FMS bridge visual 28R approach' when he cleared us for the 'FMS 28R' approach. Experimenting on the ground we found that this is identified in our FMS as the 'RNV28R' approach.if we were advised earlier in the arrival; we could have identified and loaded the approach.I guess you just have to know what is coming by having flown with someone else in the past who is familiar with the arrival. I got the impression that the MOD5 always ends in an ILS28R or an 'FMS bridge visual 28R approach' and the controllers expect everyone to know that.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-200 First Officer reported confusion in the cockpit when they were cleared for approach to Runway 28R but were not sure; because of terminology issues; which procedure to load in the FMS.

Narrative: Approaching the end of the MODESTO FIVE arrival; the Captain had to query ATC which runway to expect.NORCAL responded '28 right'. A minute later; NORCAL cleared us for the 'FMS 28R'. Due to lack of familiarity with the arrival/FMS visual we had not loaded the approach beforehand and were not able to immediately find and load the approach in the FMS. We had to ask NORCAL for vectors/visual approach. We continued the approach and landing without incident and without any loss of separation.We believe the controller was referring to the 'FMS bridge visual 28R approach' when he cleared us for the 'FMS 28R' approach. Experimenting on the ground we found that this is identified in our FMS as the 'RNV28R' approach.If we were advised earlier in the arrival; we could have identified and loaded the approach.I guess you just have to know what is coming by having flown with someone else in the past who is familiar with the arrival. I got the impression that the MOD5 always ends in an ILS28R or an 'FMS bridge visual 28R approach' and the controllers expect everyone to know that.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1299295
Time
Date	201508
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	SFO.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Crj-200 first officer reported confusion in the cockpit when they were cleared for approach to runway 28R but were not sure; because of terminology issues; which procedure to load in the FMS.