Narrative:

Flight was cleared to bdl VOR after takeoff. First officer was flying. Flight was 'cleared direct baf.' I had to go to the lavatory and returned 5 mins later. Flight was passing what we both thought was bdl. First officer turned direct ign. ZBW informed us we had gone to baf, not bdl. We were both surprised, but admitted nothing. Controller questioned me about clrncs and said he would 'check it out.' no conflict occurred. First officer set wrong VOR frequency and I failed to catch the error and had set in next fix of ign VOR. Lack of xchk contributed to the navigation error.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: NAV ERROR OCCURRED WHEN MD80 SET IN THE WRONG VOR FREQ WHEN CLRED DIRECT TO BDL, THE FLT PROCEEDED DIRECT BAF.

Narrative: FLT WAS CLRED TO BDL VOR AFTER TKOF. FO WAS FLYING. FLT WAS 'CLRED DIRECT BAF.' I HAD TO GO TO THE LAVATORY AND RETURNED 5 MINS LATER. FLT WAS PASSING WHAT WE BOTH THOUGHT WAS BDL. FO TURNED DIRECT IGN. ZBW INFORMED US WE HAD GONE TO BAF, NOT BDL. WE WERE BOTH SURPRISED, BUT ADMITTED NOTHING. CTLR QUESTIONED ME ABOUT CLRNCS AND SAID HE WOULD 'CHK IT OUT.' NO CONFLICT OCCURRED. FO SET WRONG VOR FREQ AND I FAILED TO CATCH THE ERROR AND HAD SET IN NEXT FIX OF IGN VOR. LACK OF XCHK CONTRIBUTED TO THE NAV ERROR.

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.