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Flight crew of an S80 complain re the similar call signs. There was a company memo about the frequency of aircraft taking the wrong clearance. This occurred when there were several aircraft with similar call signs.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 400924 |
| Time | |
| Date | 199804 |
| Day | Thu |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601 To 1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : ord |
| State Reference | IL |
| Altitude | agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0 |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Controlling Facilities | artcc : zkc |
| Operator | common carrier : air carrier |
| Make Model Name | MD-80 Super 80 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Navigation In Use | Other Other |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : first officer |
| Qualification | pilot : instrument pilot : commercial |
| ASRS Report | 400924 |
| Person 2 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : captain oversight : pic |
| Qualification | pilot : atp |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | other anomaly other |
| Independent Detector | other controllera other flight crewa |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : detected after the fact |
| Consequence | Other |
| Supplementary | |
| Air Traffic Incident | other |
Narrative:
Re: flight operation's e-mail about ord frequency changes being taken by the wrong aircraft. We've been here before several times. Once again marketing has given us an alarming increase in the amount of similar call signs flying into the same geographic area at the same time. You guys are sometimes disappointing at your finger pointing. Let's fix the problem where it starts, not downstream. As I said we have been through this before. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter states that the company response indicated they did not have enough specifics on the call signs involved. Did not satisfy reporter. This has happened twice in about 3 or 4 years that the marketing department uses blocks of numbers on flts and creates major confusion. Recently when inbound to ord there were 4 call signs with similar numbers. ATC is not happy either when this occurs. Analyst recommended the FAA hot line as another source for comment.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: FLC OF AN S80 COMPLAIN RE THE SIMILAR CALL SIGNS. THERE WAS A COMPANY MEMO ABOUT THE FREQUENCY OF ACFT TAKING THE WRONG CLRNC. THIS OCCURRED WHEN THERE WERE SEVERAL ACFT WITH SIMILAR CALL SIGNS.
Narrative: RE: FLT OP'S E-MAIL ABOUT ORD FREQ CHANGES BEING TAKEN BY THE WRONG ACFT. WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE SEVERAL TIMES. ONCE AGAIN MARKETING HAS GIVEN US AN ALARMING INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF SIMILAR CALL SIGNS FLYING INTO THE SAME GEOGRAPHIC AREA AT THE SAME TIME. YOU GUYS ARE SOMETIMES DISAPPOINTING AT YOUR FINGER POINTING. LET'S FIX THE PROB WHERE IT STARTS, NOT DOWNSTREAM. AS I SAID WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT THE COMPANY RESPONSE INDICATED THEY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH SPECIFICS ON THE CALL SIGNS INVOLVED. DID NOT SATISFY RPTR. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE IN ABOUT 3 OR 4 YEARS THAT THE MARKETING DEPT USES BLOCKS OF NUMBERS ON FLTS AND CREATES MAJOR CONFUSION. RECENTLY WHEN INBOUND TO ORD THERE WERE 4 CALL SIGNS WITH SIMILAR NUMBERS. ATC IS NOT HAPPY EITHER WHEN THIS OCCURS. ANALYST RECOMMENDED THE FAA HOT LINE AS ANOTHER SOURCE FOR COMMENT.
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.