Narrative:

Had received and read back oceanic clearance (nat-H). Approaching santiago on UA33, talking to madrid control, female controller was extremely hard to understand -- the worst I've had in 2 yrs of international flying. Cleared by controller to 43n13w after stg. Questioned clearance as we had filed nat-H which starts at 4330n13w. On chart, this point is also defined as mudos. Controller said again what we interpreted as, 'cleared to 43n13w.' first officer asked if we were cleared to 43n13w or 4330n13w. I don't think she understood what we were asking (the difference between 4330n13w and 43n13w). She was talking with several other aircraft, getting us confused with another flight, and more than once called us by the wrong airline name. I asked first officer to keep calling to verify clearance, no matter how many calls it took. After repeating full coordinates twice with either no answer or an unintelligible answer, we asked, 'are we cleared to 4330n13w, mudos?' the answer was in the affirmative. Passing stg, we gave position report. Actual report was a few mi past stg as radio was so congested we had a hard time getting the report in. At this time we were again cleared to 43n13w. Again we asked, 'are we cleared to 4330n13w, mudos?' the answer was, 'negative. Cleared to 43n13w.' we repeated the clearance as now cleared to 43n13w and set our course direct to 43n13w. Approaching 43n13w, madrid called and told us to contact santa maria. We gave our 43n13w report to santa maria. The reply from santa maria was, '...you mean 4330n13w?' our reply was, 'negative, negative. We are 43n13w. We filed 4330n13w and tried to go there but madrid insisted we go to 43n13w.' santa maria said he would check. A short time later he called back and said, 'no problem and you are cleared from 43n13w to 44n20w and ... (The remainder of nat-H).' we read back the full clearance (coordinates of the remainder of nat-H). I think the most likely cause of this problem was the madrid controller's lack of command of english. However, because of being cleared to 43n13w more than once by madrid control, I also wonder if there was a communication problem between madrid and santa maria, either verbally or written?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EITHER INTENTIONALLY OR THROUGH CONFUSION, MADRID CLRED ACFT TO 43N13W RATHER THAN TO 4330N13W (MUDROS) WHICH WAS THE ACTUAL RTE CLRED.

Narrative: HAD RECEIVED AND READ BACK OCEANIC CLRNC (NAT-H). APCHING SANTIAGO ON UA33, TALKING TO MADRID CTL, FEMALE CTLR WAS EXTREMELY HARD TO UNDERSTAND -- THE WORST I'VE HAD IN 2 YRS OF INTL FLYING. CLRED BY CTLR TO 43N13W AFTER STG. QUESTIONED CLRNC AS WE HAD FILED NAT-H WHICH STARTS AT 4330N13W. ON CHART, THIS POINT IS ALSO DEFINED AS MUDOS. CTLR SAID AGAIN WHAT WE INTERPRETED AS, 'CLRED TO 43N13W.' FO ASKED IF WE WERE CLRED TO 43N13W OR 4330N13W. I DON'T THINK SHE UNDERSTOOD WHAT WE WERE ASKING (THE DIFFERENCE BTWN 4330N13W AND 43N13W). SHE WAS TALKING WITH SEVERAL OTHER ACFT, GETTING US CONFUSED WITH ANOTHER FLT, AND MORE THAN ONCE CALLED US BY THE WRONG AIRLINE NAME. I ASKED FO TO KEEP CALLING TO VERIFY CLRNC, NO MATTER HOW MANY CALLS IT TOOK. AFTER REPEATING FULL COORDINATES TWICE WITH EITHER NO ANSWER OR AN UNINTELLIGIBLE ANSWER, WE ASKED, 'ARE WE CLRED TO 4330N13W, MUDOS?' THE ANSWER WAS IN THE AFFIRMATIVE. PASSING STG, WE GAVE POS RPT. ACTUAL RPT WAS A FEW MI PAST STG AS RADIO WAS SO CONGESTED WE HAD A HARD TIME GETTING THE RPT IN. AT THIS TIME WE WERE AGAIN CLRED TO 43N13W. AGAIN WE ASKED, 'ARE WE CLRED TO 4330N13W, MUDOS?' THE ANSWER WAS, 'NEGATIVE. CLRED TO 43N13W.' WE REPEATED THE CLRNC AS NOW CLRED TO 43N13W AND SET OUR COURSE DIRECT TO 43N13W. APCHING 43N13W, MADRID CALLED AND TOLD US TO CONTACT SANTA MARIA. WE GAVE OUR 43N13W RPT TO SANTA MARIA. THE REPLY FROM SANTA MARIA WAS, '...YOU MEAN 4330N13W?' OUR REPLY WAS, 'NEGATIVE, NEGATIVE. WE ARE 43N13W. WE FILED 4330N13W AND TRIED TO GO THERE BUT MADRID INSISTED WE GO TO 43N13W.' SANTA MARIA SAID HE WOULD CHK. A SHORT TIME LATER HE CALLED BACK AND SAID, 'NO PROB AND YOU ARE CLRED FROM 43N13W TO 44N20W AND ... (THE REMAINDER OF NAT-H).' WE READ BACK THE FULL CLRNC (COORDINATES OF THE REMAINDER OF NAT-H). I THINK THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE OF THIS PROB WAS THE MADRID CTLR'S LACK OF COMMAND OF ENGLISH. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF BEING CLRED TO 43N13W MORE THAN ONCE BY MADRID CTL, I ALSO WONDER IF THERE WAS A COM PROB BTWN MADRID AND SANTA MARIA, EITHER VERBALLY OR WRITTEN?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.