Cleared via the cathedral nine SID; the flight crew of a B737NG failed to fly the teardrop route fro...

Narrative:

Cleared the cathedral 9 departure - psp (runway 31L) - V370-tnp. Procedure calls for climbing right turn to psp; then outbound on the 104 degree radial to emrud; climbing right turn to psp to cross psp at greater than 6;200 ft VOR V370. On departure; we climbed approximately 1;000 ft AGL and started a right turn to psp; expecting to be at 6;200 ft by the VOR. We interpreted the procedure to emrud to be not applicable if we could cross the VOR at greater than 6;200 ft. After we were sure we would meet the altitude restriction; we proceeded to intercept V370 to tnp. ZLA informed us that they expected us to fly via emrud back to psp; then V370 to tnp. ZLA reminded us that they expect you to always fly the full procedure (cathedral 9 via emrud) regardless of altitude. We thoroughly reviewed the departure procedure. I felt distracted due to our late push from the gate and distractions during the boarding process. It was a very short taxi as well to the departure runway. A better review of the departure procedures should have been in order. Supplemental information from acn 829181: both of my previous trips were in night conditions. Given the terrain; careful briefings are critical. The fact that it was daylight and the terrain was clearly visible may have contributed to our incomplete briefing.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cleared via the CATHEDRAL NINE SID; the flight crew of a B737NG failed to fly the teardrop route from PSP to EMRUD and back to PSP. Believed crossing at or above the prescribed MCA at PSP obviated the need to do so.

Narrative: Cleared the Cathedral 9 departure - PSP (Runway 31L) - V370-TNP. Procedure calls for climbing right turn to PSP; then outbound on the 104 degree radial to EMRUD; climbing right turn to PSP to cross PSP at greater than 6;200 FT VOR V370. On departure; we climbed approximately 1;000 FT AGL and started a right turn to PSP; expecting to be at 6;200 FT by the VOR. We interpreted the procedure to EMRUD to be not applicable if we could cross the VOR at greater than 6;200 FT. After we were sure we would meet the altitude restriction; we proceeded to intercept V370 to TNP. ZLA informed us that they expected us to fly via EMRUD back to PSP; then V370 to TNP. ZLA reminded us that they expect you to always fly the full procedure (Cathedral 9 via EMRUD) regardless of altitude. We thoroughly reviewed the departure procedure. I felt distracted due to our late push from the gate and distractions during the boarding process. It was a very short taxi as well to the departure runway. A better review of the departure procedures should have been in order. Supplemental information from ACN 829181: Both of my previous trips were in night conditions. Given the terrain; careful briefings are critical. The fact that it was daylight and the terrain was clearly visible may have contributed to our incomplete briefing.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	829665
Time
Date	200903
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	PSP.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-800
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	SID CATH 9
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Cleared via the cathedral nine SID; the flight crew of a B737NG failed to fly the teardrop route from psp to emrud and back to psp. Believed crossing at or above the prescribed MCA at psp obviated the need to do so.