Narrative:

The event begins with the in-range call to company operations in washington, dc. During the call I requested a gpu by stating 'we need a gpu for the next trip.' the worker in operations interpreted the use of the word 'trip' as a signal that our flight had been hijacked. Subsequently during the standard after shutdown call, to report times and fuel remaining on board, the operations supervisor stated 'confirm that you need a gpu for trip XXXX.' the captain replied, 'yes we need a gpu.' this was repeated twice more before we departed the aircraft for the terminal, after which the operations supervisor called the police to report a possible hijacking. They responded to the aircraft only to find it shut down and empty. We were later located in the terminal and returned to the aircraft to meet with the police at which time we told them that no security breach had occurred. It appears that this event happened due to the initial overreaction to the use of the word 'trip' by operations personnel. Further, during the after shutdown call, they attempted to confirm the hijacking but the captain did not associate their use of the word 'trip.' he was clearly concentrating on the need for a gpu. Our operations manual directs us to use the following phraseology, when communicating with ATC, to indicate a hijacking: 'call sign trip XXXX.' at no time during the flight was this phraseology or the word 'trip' used in communications with ATC, nor did we use the transponder to indicate a hijacking. The operations personnel made no attempt to confirm their suspicions with the local tower or approach control facilities. While I understand the need for a discrete word to communicate a hijacking, the word 'trip' has far too many common uses to totally avoid use in all communications. As for a way to prevent this from recurring, I can only recommend that all personnel be thoroughly trained in the proper phraseology and possibly a better word could be found to replace 'trip.'

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: INTRACOMPANY MISCOM. ACR OPS MISTAKES FLC REF TO NEXT 'TRIP' AS INDICATOR OF HIJACKING IN PROGRESS. AFTER ACFT WAS ON GND THE MISCOM CONTINUED AND FLC WAS LED BY THEIR OPS WHEN ASKED, 'CONFIRM THAT YOU NEED A GPU FOR TRIP XXXX.' FLC, THINKING IT WAS JUST TO CONFIRM THEIR REQUIREMENT FOR A GPU, RESPONDED AFFIRMATIVE. ACFT WAS SHUT DOWN AND FLC DEPLANED ONLY TO BE PAGED SHORTLY TO RETURN TO THEIR ACFT WHERE THEY WERE MET BY POLICE, THINKING A HIJACKING WAS IN PROGRESS.

Narrative: THE EVENT BEGINS WITH THE IN-RANGE CALL TO COMPANY OPS IN WASHINGTON, DC. DURING THE CALL I REQUESTED A GPU BY STATING 'WE NEED A GPU FOR THE NEXT TRIP.' THE WORKER IN OPS INTERPRETED THE USE OF THE WORD 'TRIP' AS A SIGNAL THAT OUR FLT HAD BEEN HIJACKED. SUBSEQUENTLY DURING THE STANDARD AFTER SHUTDOWN CALL, TO RPT TIMES AND FUEL REMAINING ON BOARD, THE OPS SUPVR STATED 'CONFIRM THAT YOU NEED A GPU FOR TRIP XXXX.' THE CAPT REPLIED, 'YES WE NEED A GPU.' THIS WAS REPEATED TWICE MORE BEFORE WE DEPARTED THE ACFT FOR THE TERMINAL, AFTER WHICH THE OPS SUPVR CALLED THE POLICE TO RPT A POSSIBLE HIJACKING. THEY RESPONDED TO THE ACFT ONLY TO FIND IT SHUT DOWN AND EMPTY. WE WERE LATER LOCATED IN THE TERMINAL AND RETURNED TO THE ACFT TO MEET WITH THE POLICE AT WHICH TIME WE TOLD THEM THAT NO SECURITY BREACH HAD OCCURRED. IT APPEARS THAT THIS EVENT HAPPENED DUE TO THE INITIAL OVERREACTION TO THE USE OF THE WORD 'TRIP' BY OPS PERSONNEL. FURTHER, DURING THE AFTER SHUTDOWN CALL, THEY ATTEMPTED TO CONFIRM THE HIJACKING BUT THE CAPT DID NOT ASSOCIATE THEIR USE OF THE WORD 'TRIP.' HE WAS CLRLY CONCENTRATING ON THE NEED FOR A GPU. OUR OPS MANUAL DIRECTS US TO USE THE FOLLOWING PHRASEOLOGY, WHEN COMMUNICATING WITH ATC, TO INDICATE A HIJACKING: 'CALL SIGN TRIP XXXX.' AT NO TIME DURING THE FLT WAS THIS PHRASEOLOGY OR THE WORD 'TRIP' USED IN COMS WITH ATC, NOR DID WE USE THE XPONDER TO INDICATE A HIJACKING. THE OPS PERSONNEL MADE NO ATTEMPT TO CONFIRM THEIR SUSPICIONS WITH THE LCL TWR OR APCH CTL FACILITIES. WHILE I UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR A DISCRETE WORD TO COMMUNICATE A HIJACKING, THE WORD 'TRIP' HAS FAR TOO MANY COMMON USES TO TOTALLY AVOID USE IN ALL COMS. AS FOR A WAY TO PREVENT THIS FROM RECURRING, I CAN ONLY RECOMMEND THAT ALL PERSONNEL BE THOROUGHLY TRAINED IN THE PROPER PHRASEOLOGY AND POSSIBLY A BETTER WORD COULD BE FOUND TO REPLACE 'TRIP.'

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.