B737 flight crew fails to get departure clearance. Takeoff without clearance.

Attributes
ACN	317234
Time
Date	199509
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : clt
State Reference	NC
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : clt
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	climbout : takeoff climbout : intermediate altitude ground : preflight
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 120 flight time total : 15000 flight time type : 9000
ASRS Report	317234
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : published procedure non adherence : clearance non adherence : far non adherence other other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance none taken : detected after the fact other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

First officer requested the IFR clearance through pre departure clearance system via ACARS. ACARS said 'pre departure clearance clearance not on file, contact clearance delivery via voice.' first officer failed to contact clearance delivery and we taxied out and departed without ever receiving the IFR clearance. Ground, tower, and departure never questioned our not having IFR clearance. Flight operated normally. Transponder code was given on departure control frequency. To help prevent this from occurring again, the clearance should be checked on the ACARS and compared with the filed flight plan on the dispatch release. This could be done during the pre-departure briefing. If the clearance does not appear in the ACARS at this time, then the first officer should be questioned to see if he obtained the clearance via voice.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 FLC FAILS TO GET DEP CLRNC. TKOF WITHOUT CLRNC.

Narrative: FO REQUESTED THE IFR CLRNC THROUGH PDC SYS VIA ACARS. ACARS SAID 'PDC CLRNC NOT ON FILE, CONTACT CLRNC DELIVERY VIA VOICE.' FO FAILED TO CONTACT CLRNC DELIVERY AND WE TAXIED OUT AND DEPARTED WITHOUT EVER RECEIVING THE IFR CLRNC. GND, TWR, AND DEP NEVER QUESTIONED OUR NOT HAVING IFR CLRNC. FLT OPERATED NORMALLY. XPONDER CODE WAS GIVEN ON DEP CTL FREQ. TO HELP PREVENT THIS FROM OCCURRING AGAIN, THE CLRNC SHOULD BE CHKED ON THE ACARS AND COMPARED WITH THE FILED FLT PLAN ON THE DISPATCH RELEASE. THIS COULD BE DONE DURING THE PRE-DEP BRIEFING. IF THE CLRNC DOES NOT APPEAR IN THE ACARS AT THIS TIME, THEN THE FO SHOULD BE QUESTIONED TO SEE IF HE OBTAINED THE CLRNC VIA VOICE.

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.