Narrative:

Did normal autoload of route on FMC. Upon receipt of pre departure clearance I verified that the route loaded was correct and noticed a pre departure clearance alert changing the clearance from LOA5.fuz J58 sps a/F to LOA5 fuz sps a/F. I corrected the FMC to match the pre departure clearance alert. Captain; upon route verification reinserted J58 to see if the pre departure clearance alert was false and then corrected it back to fuz direct sps. Somehow the fuz transition was dropped out and the FMC went from LOA directly to fuz instead of LOA direct doley intersection and then fuz as per the departure. This is confusing because just verifying the route without verifying the leg waypoints on the legs page the FMC appeared to match the pre departure clearance. The pre departure clearance alert said LOA5 fuz instead of LOA5.fuz which may have contributed to the confusion. Upon climb out FMC went from LOA to fuz and we were questioned by ATC because we were not over doley. ATC let us continue to fuz as it did not cause a conflict when we asked them. Another problem was that doley was not in the legs on the paper flight plan even though the flight plan had us filed as LOA5.fuz. To wrap up; all of the paperwork matched what we loaded but only a verification of the legs page with the actual departure chart would have caught the error. Pre departure clearance alert should have stated LOA5.fuz instead of LOA5 fuz; to state that the transition needs to be loaded as a backup even though I correctly loaded it the first time. Second I think that crews should perform a waypoint verification on all departures; such as done on international flts; to prevent this from happening. At my last airline; this type of verification was done on every flight for the whole route; to ensure waypoints matched the flight plan; although in this case the particular waypoint was not in the flight plan. I don't think just a route page verification to the pre departure clearance is enough. I think all waypoints along the route should be verified; and I will be more vigilant to check leg waypoints in the future instead of just looking at the route page.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 FLT CREW FAILS TO PROPERLY LOAD LOA5.FUZ DEPARTURE OUT OF IAH AND FLIES LOA DIRECT FUZ OMITTING DOLEY.

Narrative: DID NORMAL AUTOLOAD OF RTE ON FMC. UPON RECEIPT OF PDC I VERIFIED THAT THE RTE LOADED WAS CORRECT AND NOTICED A PDC ALERT CHANGING THE CLRNC FROM LOA5.FUZ J58 SPS A/F TO LOA5 FUZ SPS A/F. I CORRECTED THE FMC TO MATCH THE PDC ALERT. CAPT; UPON RTE VERIFICATION REINSERTED J58 TO SEE IF THE PDC ALERT WAS FALSE AND THEN CORRECTED IT BACK TO FUZ DIRECT SPS. SOMEHOW THE FUZ TRANSITION WAS DROPPED OUT AND THE FMC WENT FROM LOA DIRECTLY TO FUZ INSTEAD OF LOA DIRECT DOLEY INTXN AND THEN FUZ AS PER THE DEP. THIS IS CONFUSING BECAUSE JUST VERIFYING THE RTE WITHOUT VERIFYING THE LEG WAYPOINTS ON THE LEGS PAGE THE FMC APPEARED TO MATCH THE PDC. THE PDC ALERT SAID LOA5 FUZ INSTEAD OF LOA5.FUZ WHICH MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONFUSION. UPON CLBOUT FMC WENT FROM LOA TO FUZ AND WE WERE QUESTIONED BY ATC BECAUSE WE WERE NOT OVER DOLEY. ATC LET US CONTINUE TO FUZ AS IT DID NOT CAUSE A CONFLICT WHEN WE ASKED THEM. ANOTHER PROB WAS THAT DOLEY WAS NOT IN THE LEGS ON THE PAPER FLT PLAN EVEN THOUGH THE FLT PLAN HAD US FILED AS LOA5.FUZ. TO WRAP UP; ALL OF THE PAPERWORK MATCHED WHAT WE LOADED BUT ONLY A VERIFICATION OF THE LEGS PAGE WITH THE ACTUAL DEP CHART WOULD HAVE CAUGHT THE ERROR. PDC ALERT SHOULD HAVE STATED LOA5.FUZ INSTEAD OF LOA5 FUZ; TO STATE THAT THE TRANSITION NEEDS TO BE LOADED AS A BACKUP EVEN THOUGH I CORRECTLY LOADED IT THE FIRST TIME. SECOND I THINK THAT CREWS SHOULD PERFORM A WAYPOINT VERIFICATION ON ALL DEPS; SUCH AS DONE ON INTL FLTS; TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING. AT MY LAST AIRLINE; THIS TYPE OF VERIFICATION WAS DONE ON EVERY FLT FOR THE WHOLE RTE; TO ENSURE WAYPOINTS MATCHED THE FLT PLAN; ALTHOUGH IN THIS CASE THE PARTICULAR WAYPOINT WAS NOT IN THE FLT PLAN. I DON'T THINK JUST A RTE PAGE VERIFICATION TO THE PDC IS ENOUGH. I THINK ALL WAYPOINTS ALONG THE RTE SHOULD BE VERIFIED; AND I WILL BE MORE VIGILANT TO CHK LEG WAYPOINTS IN THE FUTURE INSTEAD OF JUST LOOKING AT THE RTE PAGE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.