An aircraft departed hou and turned right heading 300 degrees. The controller wanted the aircraft to...

Attributes
ACN	1315699
Time
Date	201512
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	HOU.Airport
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 187
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 170
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Narrative:

We were cleared position and hold at houston hobby. In position we heard; '(call sign) cleared for takeoff; turn right heading 300.' the first officer responded exactly with; '(call sign) cleared for takeoff; turn right heading 300.' I responded to the first officer; 'cleared for takeoff; right turn to 300.' we lifted off; turned right to 300 at 400 feet. Tower then told us to expedite climb through 3;000 feet and turn to heading 330. Tower then told us we were supposed to turn left on takeoff to 300 degrees; contact departure. We apologized and changed frequency. Both the first officer and I thought we heard a command to make a right turn on takeoff. The first officer read that instruction back with no correction from tower. Either we both misunderstood the clearance and read it back wrong or the tower misspoke and inadvertently read us the opposite of what was required.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An aircraft departed HOU and turned right heading 300 degrees. The Controller wanted the aircraft to turn left heading 300 degrees. The pilots state the Controller told them to turn to the heading and they read back turn right with no correction from ATC.

Narrative: We were cleared position and hold at Houston Hobby. In position we heard; '(call sign) cleared for takeoff; turn right heading 300.' The First Officer responded exactly with; '(call sign) cleared for takeoff; turn right heading 300.' I responded to the First Officer; 'cleared for takeoff; right turn to 300.' We lifted off; turned right to 300 at 400 feet. Tower then told us to expedite climb through 3;000 feet and turn to heading 330. Tower then told us we were supposed to turn left on takeoff to 300 degrees; contact Departure. We apologized and changed frequency. Both the First Officer and I thought we heard a command to make a right turn on takeoff. The First Officer read that instruction back with no correction from Tower. Either we both misunderstood the clearance and read it back wrong or the Tower misspoke and inadvertently read us the opposite of what was required.

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.

An aircraft departed hou and turned right heading 300 degrees. The controller wanted the aircraft to turn left heading 300 degrees. The pilots state the controller told them to turn to the heading and they read back turn right with no correction from ATC.