Narrative:

We received our ATC clearance to fra via the philadelphia 6 departure radar vectors to drift, J121 to J62 ack as filed. This route was not our original filed route and when the controller read the clearance she read it so fast I was unable to copy the clearance. I requested another reading, and read back the above clearance. The controller concurred. I loaded drift in the first waypoint position and loaded the other waypoints along our route. Upon departure we were told to contact departure control and departure told us to turn left and proceed direct ditch intersection. I asked the first officer to confirm that we were cleared to ditch and not drift intersection. At that point the radio failed. We could receive but not transmit. The controller repeated the clearance to ditch intersection. I switched my navigation radios to determine where ditch was and took up a heading toward ditch. I was unable to RNAV to ditch because our INS's require latitude longitude input and there wasn't enough time. The first officer contacted departure on the #2 radio and we confirmed our route clearance with departure. We were successful in navigating direct to ditch and on course. However, I was surprised by our clearance after takeoff and a lot of confusion ensued because ditch and drift intxns sound very similar across the radio and could easily be mistaken for one another. This is the reason I requested clarification. In short, the communication prior to and during the radio failure was poor. The ATC clearance I received was not what departure really wanted and the names of the intxns were close enough that I wanted to make sure the departure controller was really sure which intersection he was clearing me to. I think we in the industry need to focus on communication, not the pilot controller glossary, but renaming similar sounding intxns and trying to make predep clrncs equal what the departure controller really wants. Callback conversation with facility procedures specialist revealed the following information: callback was made to a facility procedures specialist who stated the common route clearance for reporter's route is ditch V312 drift J121 and indicated in any event, the aircraft would have been given the SID over ditch and then the appropriate airway.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF WDB ACR MISCOPIED DRIFT INTXN FOR SIMILAR SOUNDING DITCH INTXN IN ATC CLRNC. THE CLRNC DEP CTLR MISSED THE INCORRECT FIX READBACK.

Narrative: WE RECEIVED OUR ATC CLRNC TO FRA VIA THE PHILADELPHIA 6 DEP RADAR VECTORS TO DRIFT, J121 TO J62 ACK AS FILED. THIS RTE WAS NOT OUR ORIGINAL FILED RTE AND WHEN THE CTLR READ THE CLRNC SHE READ IT SO FAST I WAS UNABLE TO COPY THE CLRNC. I REQUESTED ANOTHER READING, AND READ BACK THE ABOVE CLRNC. THE CTLR CONCURRED. I LOADED DRIFT IN THE FIRST WAYPOINT POS AND LOADED THE OTHER WAYPOINTS ALONG OUR RTE. UPON DEP WE WERE TOLD TO CONTACT DEP CTL AND DEP TOLD US TO TURN L AND PROCEED DIRECT DITCH INTXN. I ASKED THE FO TO CONFIRM THAT WE WERE CLRED TO DITCH AND NOT DRIFT INTXN. AT THAT POINT THE RADIO FAILED. WE COULD RECEIVE BUT NOT XMIT. THE CTLR REPEATED THE CLRNC TO DITCH INTXN. I SWITCHED MY NAV RADIOS TO DETERMINE WHERE DITCH WAS AND TOOK UP A HEADING TOWARD DITCH. I WAS UNABLE TO RNAV TO DITCH BECAUSE OUR INS'S REQUIRE LATITUDE LONGITUDE INPUT AND THERE WASN'T ENOUGH TIME. THE FO CONTACTED DEP ON THE #2 RADIO AND WE CONFIRMED OUR RTE CLRNC WITH DEP. WE WERE SUCCESSFUL IN NAVING DIRECT TO DITCH AND ON COURSE. HOWEVER, I WAS SURPRISED BY OUR CLRNC AFTER TKOF AND A LOT OF CONFUSION ENSUED BECAUSE DITCH AND DRIFT INTXNS SOUND VERY SIMILAR ACROSS THE RADIO AND COULD EASILY BE MISTAKEN FOR ONE ANOTHER. THIS IS THE REASON I REQUESTED CLARIFICATION. IN SHORT, THE COM PRIOR TO AND DURING THE RADIO FAILURE WAS POOR. THE ATC CLRNC I RECEIVED WAS NOT WHAT DEP REALLY WANTED AND THE NAMES OF THE INTXNS WERE CLOSE ENOUGH THAT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE DEP CTLR WAS REALLY SURE WHICH INTXN HE WAS CLRING ME TO. I THINK WE IN THE INDUSTRY NEED TO FOCUS ON COM, NOT THE PLT CTLR GLOSSARY, BUT RENAMING SIMILAR SOUNDING INTXNS AND TRYING TO MAKE PREDEP CLRNCS EQUAL WHAT THE DEP CTLR REALLY WANTS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH FACILITY PROCS SPECIALIST REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: CALLBACK WAS MADE TO A FACILITY PROCS SPECIALIST WHO STATED THE COMMON RTE CLRNC FOR RPTR'S RTE IS DITCH V312 DRIFT J121 AND INDICATED IN ANY EVENT, THE ACFT WOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE SID OVER DITCH AND THEN THE APPROPRIATE AIRWAY.

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.