Aircraft X wrong way turn had less than standard separation from aircraft Y. System error.

Attributes
ACN	271064
Time
Date	199405
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : elp
State Reference	TX
Altitude	msl bound lower : 15000 msl bound upper : 15000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	enroute : on vectors enroute airway : elp
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	enroute : direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : departure
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller radar : 2
ASRS Report	271064
Person 2
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : private
Events
Anomaly	conflict : airborne less severe non adherence : published procedure non adherence : required legal separation
Independent Detector	other other : unspecified atc
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	faa : investigated
Miss Distance	horizontal : 16200 vertical : 800
Supplementary
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Operational Error

Narrative:

Aircraft X departed climbing nebound. Aircraft Y departed climbing nebound to intercept a jet route eastbound. Controller issued aircraft X a heading of 040 degrees. Aircraft Y was overtaking aircraft X. Controller instructed aircraft X a left turn to a heading of 050 degrees. Aircraft X questioned the direction of turn. Controller restated turn left to heading 050. Aircraft X then made a 350 degree turn to the left, which caused loss of separation with aircraft Y.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACFT X WRONG WAY TURN HAD LTSS FROM ACFT Y. SYS ERROR.

Narrative: ACFT X DEPARTED CLBING NEBOUND. ACFT Y DEPARTED CLBING NEBOUND TO INTERCEPT A JET RTE EBOUND. CTLR ISSUED ACFT X A HDG OF 040 DEGS. ACFT Y WAS OVERTAKING ACFT X. CTLR INSTRUCTED ACFT X A L TURN TO A HDG OF 050 DEGS. ACFT X QUESTIONED THE DIRECTION OF TURN. CTLR RESTATED TURN L TO HDG 050. ACFT X THEN MADE A 350 DEG TURN TO THE L, WHICH CAUSED LOSS OF SEPARATION WITH ACFT Y.

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.