Narrative:

First officer obtained our departure clearance via ACARS. He inadvertently misread the pre departure clearance and failed to notice the preferred departure routing for our departure clearance. The turn time was not a factor (31 minutes) and there were no unusual distrs. He just failed to see the dash symbols indicating a preferred routing. This is simple to do since the pre departure clearance also displays the filed routing; making it easy to assume you have received your filed route for your clearance. All checklist procedures were followed and he briefed the maxxo departure for our clearance briefing. I did not verify this clearance by pulling up the ACARS pre departure clearance message to check it. At about 3000 ft MSL on departure leg ATC asked us to confirm our departure routing. He then informed us that our clearance was actually for the st john departure since the maxxo departure had been shut down for thunderstorms. He then gave us vectors and a new clearance for the st john SID. He seemed completely unconcerned by the event. Traffic separation was never compromised. After climbing to our cruising altitude we did reexamine the pre departure clearance and confirmed our mistake. Lessons learned: from now on I will verify the pre departure clearance on the ACARS menu prior to the clearance briefing. Suggestion: this error could be easily eliminated if ATC would reformat the pre departure clearance message so that it only includes the required clearance routing and delete the filed routing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR CREW RPTS THE FO MISREAD THE PDC'S AMENDED ROUTING AND ENTERED THE FILED ROUTING IN THE FMC. ATC ISSUED NEW CLRNC AFTER TKOF.

Narrative: FO OBTAINED OUR DEP CLRNC VIA ACARS. HE INADVERTENTLY MISREAD THE PDC AND FAILED TO NOTICE THE PREFERRED DEP ROUTING FOR OUR DEP CLRNC. THE TURN TIME WAS NOT A FACTOR (31 MINUTES) AND THERE WERE NO UNUSUAL DISTRS. HE JUST FAILED TO SEE THE DASH SYMBOLS INDICATING A PREFERRED ROUTING. THIS IS SIMPLE TO DO SINCE THE PDC ALSO DISPLAYS THE FILED ROUTING; MAKING IT EASY TO ASSUME YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR FILED RTE FOR YOUR CLRNC. ALL CHKLIST PROCS WERE FOLLOWED AND HE BRIEFED THE MAXXO DEP FOR OUR CLRNC BRIEFING. I DID NOT VERIFY THIS CLRNC BY PULLING UP THE ACARS PDC MESSAGE TO CHECK IT. AT ABOUT 3000 FT MSL ON DEP LEG ATC ASKED US TO CONFIRM OUR DEP ROUTING. HE THEN INFORMED US THAT OUR CLRNC WAS ACTUALLY FOR THE ST JOHN DEP SINCE THE MAXXO DEP HAD BEEN SHUT DOWN FOR THUNDERSTORMS. HE THEN GAVE US VECTORS AND A NEW CLRNC FOR THE ST JOHN SID. HE SEEMED COMPLETELY UNCONCERNED BY THE EVENT. TFC SEPARATION WAS NEVER COMPROMISED. AFTER CLBING TO OUR CRUISING ALTITUDE WE DID REEXAMINE THE PDC AND CONFIRMED OUR MISTAKE. LESSONS LEARNED: FROM NOW ON I WILL VERIFY THE PDC ON THE ACARS MENU PRIOR TO THE CLRNC BRIEFING. SUGGESTION: THIS ERROR COULD BE EASILY ELIMINATED IF ATC WOULD REFORMAT THE PDC MESSAGE SO THAT IT ONLY INCLUDES THE REQUIRED CLRNC ROUTING AND DELETE THE FILED ROUTING.

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.