Light transport aircraft pilot reported a track heading deviation during departure from ffz airport....

Narrative:

I had departed ffz in the phoenix area and after the sacat 3 SID; I was cleared to keens then izzzo. When programming my GPS; I mistakenly put 'izzo' and it automatically filled in 'izzom' which also happens to be in arizona; east of phoenix. Prior to arriving at keens; I requested direct salom since that was the waypoint after izzzo and wouldn't require me to change directions. I was informed that I would have to make that request with albuquerque center; the next controller. As I approached keens; I again asked ATC if my next waypoint was 'izzo' and they replied in the affirmative. It did seem odd that I would be turning back to phoenix; and it was about then that ATC asked where I was going and about the same time that I realized the next waypoint was 'izzzo' not 'izzom' that was showing on my navigation device. I was given vectors and quickly corrected the programming error. There were no aircraft safety issues nor were any deviations required from any other aircraft.I can't recall the psychological term; but due to having friends with a name similar to 'izzo' I didn't stop to realize that there were only 4 characters for a waypoint that of course should have 5 characters; and that 'izzom' had been entered. Even after reviewing the map of the flight plan; I thought the course reversal was odd; but accepted it anyway.this error would have been much more obvious if there were not a similar identifier for a nearby waypoint. I happened to mention this to a friend who flies for a major airline and he commented that he remembered receiving a notice about 'izzzo' in the past; and vaguely recalled it may have been about 'izzom' nearby. My suggestion is to change the identifier for 'izzom' so that anyone programming a navigation device will not be able to make the same mistake.also; if I had communicated to ATC that my specific concern was a course reversal; the error would have been discovered sooner.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Light Transport aircraft pilot reported a track heading deviation during departure from FFZ airport. Pilot stated similar sounding fix names IZZZO and IZZOM was a contributing factor.

Narrative: I had departed FFZ in the Phoenix area and after the SACAT 3 SID; I was cleared to KEENS then IZZZO. When programming my GPS; I mistakenly put 'IZZO' and it automatically filled in 'IZZOM' which also happens to be in Arizona; east of Phoenix. Prior to arriving at KEENS; I requested direct SALOM since that was the waypoint after IZZZO and wouldn't require me to change directions. I was informed that I would have to make that request with Albuquerque Center; the next Controller. As I approached KEENS; I again asked ATC if my next waypoint was 'IZZO' and they replied in the affirmative. It did seem odd that I would be turning back to Phoenix; and it was about then that ATC asked where I was going and about the same time that I realized the next waypoint was 'IZZZO' not 'IZZOM' that was showing on my navigation device. I was given vectors and quickly corrected the programming error. There were no aircraft safety issues nor were any deviations required from any other aircraft.I can't recall the psychological term; but due to having friends with a name similar to 'IZZO' I didn't stop to realize that there were only 4 characters for a waypoint that of course should have 5 characters; and that 'IZZOM' had been entered. Even after reviewing the map of the flight plan; I thought the course reversal was odd; but accepted it anyway.This error would have been much more obvious IF THERE WERE NOT A SIMILAR IDENTIFIER FOR A NEARBY WAYPOINT. I happened to mention this to a friend who flies for a major airline and he commented that he remembered receiving a notice about 'IZZZO' in the past; and vaguely recalled it may have been about 'IZZOM' nearby. My suggestion is to change the identifier for 'IZZOM' so that anyone programming a navigation device will not be able to make the same mistake.Also; if I had communicated to ATC that my specific concern was a course reversal; the error would have been discovered sooner.

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	1653277
Time
Date	201906
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	P50.TRACON
State Reference	AZ
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Light Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct SID SACAT 3
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 15 Flight Crew Total 2600 Flight Crew Type 450
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Light transport aircraft pilot reported a track heading deviation during departure from ffz airport. Pilot stated similar sounding fix names izzzo and izzom was a contributing factor.