Narrative:

Aircraft X departed dtw en route to cyul. The aircraft did not follow its filed flight plan as depicted in the NAS. When questioned; the aircraft [crew] explained that they were given a different clearance than their canned flight plan. There was no conflict with adjacent airspace or other aircraft. My reason for submitting this report is because I did not want to bring this non event to the attention of my superiors because I was afraid of the FAA pulling tapes and radar replays just to see if I had made any other mistakes not connected to my information request. It has occurred several times very recently that a mistake was asked to be looked into on pltdevs and after all was said and done a discrepancy report was written up on the controller dealing with other issues happening during the pilot deviation. Less and less now; controllers are not reporting minor errors not affecting anyone for fear of being critiqued on their performance when all the controller wanted to know is whether someone else has made an error. This will start to become an issue because minor technical problems will not be reported and they will begin to pile up finally causing a major problem. The aircraft in question was cleared via the st clair 3 departure but not with the proper transition.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZOB CTLR DESCRIBED ACR TRACK ERROR EVENT; NOT REPORTED; BECAUSE OF CONCERN REGARDING POSSIBLE CTLR MISTAKES DISCOVERED DURING REVIEW.

Narrative: ACFT X DEPARTED DTW ENRTE TO CYUL. THE ACFT DID NOT FOLLOW ITS FILED FLT PLAN AS DEPICTED IN THE NAS. WHEN QUESTIONED; THE ACFT [CREW] EXPLAINED THAT THEY WERE GIVEN A DIFFERENT CLRNC THAN THEIR CANNED FLT PLAN. THERE WAS NO CONFLICT WITH ADJACENT AIRSPACE OR OTHER ACFT. MY REASON FOR SUBMITTING THIS RPT IS BECAUSE I DID NOT WANT TO BRING THIS NON EVENT TO THE ATTN OF MY SUPERIORS BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID OF THE FAA PULLING TAPES AND RADAR REPLAYS JUST TO SEE IF I HAD MADE ANY OTHER MISTAKES NOT CONNECTED TO MY INFO REQUEST. IT HAS OCCURRED SEVERAL TIMES VERY RECENTLY THAT A MISTAKE WAS ASKED TO BE LOOKED INTO ON PLTDEVS AND AFTER ALL WAS SAID AND DONE A DISCREPANCY RPT WAS WRITTEN UP ON THE CTLR DEALING WITH OTHER ISSUES HAPPENING DURING THE PLTDEV. LESS AND LESS NOW; CTLRS ARE NOT RPTING MINOR ERRORS NOT AFFECTING ANYONE FOR FEAR OF BEING CRITIQUED ON THEIR PERFORMANCE WHEN ALL THE CTLR WANTED TO KNOW IS WHETHER SOMEONE ELSE HAS MADE AN ERROR. THIS WILL START TO BECOME AN ISSUE BECAUSE MINOR TECHNICAL PROBS WILL NOT BE RPTED AND THEY WILL BEGIN TO PILE UP FINALLY CAUSING A MAJOR PROB. THE ACFT IN QUESTION WAS CLRED VIA THE ST CLAIR 3 DEP BUT NOT WITH THE PROPER TRANSITION.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 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.