B757 departs sdf without receiving pre departure clearance.

Attributes
ACN	574401
Time
Date	200302
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	0001 To 0600
Place
Locale Reference	airport : sdf.airport
State Reference	KY
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	climbout : takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : multi engine pilot : flight engineer pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 99 flight time total : 2700 flight time type : 99
ASRS Report	574401
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 18000 flight time type : 4000
ASRS Report	574483
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : clearance non adherence : published procedure other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance

Narrative:

Accomplished a takeoff prior to receiving our IFR clearance via ACARS. No call to clearance delivery was made. Taxi, takeoff, and departure were normal with no questions from any ATC function regarding our clearance. On departure, we were directed to squawk the appropriate code, which had not been set. At that point, I discovered we had not received a pre departure clearance on ACARS. It appears our clearance was in the system, but we had not received it. Prior to blockout, I had to manually load our flight information into ACARS. We believe this may have prevented the autosending of our information in order to receive our clearance on ACARS. I should have been more alert to not receiving an ACARS message regarding the pre departure clearance or lack of. No adverse conditions were created and no ATC problems were encountered. This was the second (outbound) leg of the night. There was approximately 4.5 hours between legs. I believe slight fatigue and complacency led to us missing the clearance. Everything throughout the week had went smoothly up to this point. We were a little late this night and I believe our standard routine tasks were interrupted which contributed to the miss. It stresses the point that standard procedures can become nonstandard with any interruption of your routine. Especially at night, we need to be more aware of these pitfalls.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 DEPARTS SDF WITHOUT RECEIVING PDC.

Narrative: ACCOMPLISHED A TKOF PRIOR TO RECEIVING OUR IFR CLRNC VIA ACARS. NO CALL TO CLRNC DELIVERY WAS MADE. TAXI, TKOF, AND DEP WERE NORMAL WITH NO QUESTIONS FROM ANY ATC FUNCTION REGARDING OUR CLRNC. ON DEP, WE WERE DIRECTED TO SQUAWK THE APPROPRIATE CODE, WHICH HAD NOT BEEN SET. AT THAT POINT, I DISCOVERED WE HAD NOT RECEIVED A PDC ON ACARS. IT APPEARS OUR CLRNC WAS IN THE SYS, BUT WE HAD NOT RECEIVED IT. PRIOR TO BLOCKOUT, I HAD TO MANUALLY LOAD OUR FLT INFO INTO ACARS. WE BELIEVE THIS MAY HAVE PREVENTED THE AUTOSENDING OF OUR INFO IN ORDER TO RECEIVE OUR CLRNC ON ACARS. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE ALERT TO NOT RECEIVING AN ACARS MESSAGE REGARDING THE PDC OR LACK OF. NO ADVERSE CONDITIONS WERE CREATED AND NO ATC PROBS WERE ENCOUNTERED. THIS WAS THE SECOND (OUTBOUND) LEG OF THE NIGHT. THERE WAS APPROX 4.5 HRS BTWN LEGS. I BELIEVE SLIGHT FATIGUE AND COMPLACENCY LED TO US MISSING THE CLRNC. EVERYTHING THROUGHOUT THE WK HAD WENT SMOOTHLY UP TO THIS POINT. WE WERE A LITTLE LATE THIS NIGHT AND I BELIEVE OUR STANDARD ROUTINE TASKS WERE INTERRUPTED WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE MISS. IT STRESSES THE POINT THAT STANDARD PROCS CAN BECOME NONSTANDARD WITH ANY INTERRUPTION OF YOUR ROUTINE. ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT, WE NEED TO BE MORE AWARE OF THESE PITFALLS.

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.