An air carrier crew reported confusion caused while flying the atl winng 1 STAR after ATC cleared th...

Narrative:

Flying the winng 1 arrival to 27L we checked-in with atl approach; the controller issued several descents and speed restrictions. He then told us to contact a different atl controller on a new frequency and to report the field in sight if we saw it. We contacted the second approach controller and reported the field in sight. This controller issued us a descent to 8000' and a speed of 210 knots. Soon thereafter the controller instructed us to 'cross posey (next fix on the arrival approximately eight due north of the 27L extended final) at or above 8000' cleared visual approach runway 27L; 210 knots until grmpi contact the tower at depot.'we were in LNAV and VNAV; I selected direct to grmpi after posey since we were cleared for a visual approach and ensured we crossed posey at or above 8000' before continuing our descent. Approximately not quite half way to grmpi; the controller queried us '(call sign) where are you going?' we replied that we crossed posey at 8000' and we were cleared the visual. The controller then stated that there must be some confusion; canceled our approach clearance; issued a 190 heading and told us maintain 6000'. He subsequently recleared us to join the localizer and cleared us for a visual approach with the same speed restriction he issued earlier. The flight landed safely and terminated without further incident.nearly every time I go to atlanta there is drama. ATC is so keyed up on shoving as many aircraft as possible in a given spot even when it isn't busy they have invented all these special atlantaisms that cause a lot of headaches. In this instance we complied with all ATC instructions; and there were still issues. I think this event was caused by the controller expectations for us to not fly a visual approach even though we were cleared for a visual. Based on what the controller said that there was confusion based on us doing the most basic approach in aviation. If ATC would instead of trying to fit all the square pegs (different operators; different aircraft; different pilots; etc.) into the round atl hole and instead operated in basic aviation norms and expectations and procedures instead of everything being special it would be a less confusing; less stressful and safer operation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier crew reported confusion caused while flying the ATL WINNG 1 STAR after ATC cleared them for visual approach; uncleared them with a vector then recleared them for the visual.

Narrative: Flying the WINNG 1 Arrival to 27L we checked-in with ATL Approach; the Controller issued several descents and speed restrictions. He then told us to contact a different ATL Controller on a new frequency and to report the field in sight if we saw it. We contacted the second Approach Controller and reported the field in sight. This Controller issued us a descent to 8000' and a speed of 210 knots. Soon thereafter the Controller instructed us to 'cross POSEY (next fix on the arrival approximately eight due north of the 27L extended final) at or above 8000' cleared Visual Approach Runway 27L; 210 knots until GRMPI contact the Tower at DEPOT.'We were in LNAV and VNAV; I selected direct to GRMPI after POSEY since we were cleared for a visual approach and ensured we crossed POSEY at or above 8000' before continuing our descent. Approximately not quite half way to GRMPI; the Controller queried us '(Call sign) where are you going?' We replied that we crossed POSEY at 8000' and we were cleared the visual. The Controller then stated that there must be some confusion; canceled our approach clearance; issued a 190 heading and told us maintain 6000'. He subsequently recleared us to join the Localizer and cleared us for a Visual Approach with the same speed restriction he issued earlier. The flight landed safely and terminated without further incident.Nearly every time I go to Atlanta there is drama. ATC is so keyed up on shoving as many aircraft as possible in a given spot even when it isn't busy they have invented all these special Atlantaisms that cause a lot of headaches. In this instance we complied with all ATC instructions; and there were still issues. I think this event was caused by the Controller expectations for us to NOT fly a visual approach even though we were cleared for a visual. Based on what the Controller said that there was confusion based on us doing the most basic approach in aviation. If ATC would instead of trying to fit all the square pegs (different Operators; different aircraft; different Pilots; etc.) into the round ATL hole and instead operated in basic aviation norms and expectations and procedures instead of everything being special it would be a less confusing; less stressful and safer operation.

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	1420802
Time
Date	201701
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ATL.Airport
State Reference	GA
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Vectors Visual Approach STAR WINNG ONE
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

An air carrier crew reported confusion caused while flying the atl winng 1 STAR after ATC cleared them for visual approach; uncleared them with a vector then recleared them for the visual.