Narrative:

I believe task saturation; and the similar sounding call signs with multiple flights caused confusion between the controller and our interpretation of his instructions. On the canuk arrival into atl; we were given a heading by ATC I believe was in error. At the time the controller was very busy and had 3 different air carrier flights with similar sounding flight numbers. Our flight # was XXXX; but there was a xyxx; and another similar number also on the same frequency. The controller instructed our flight (XXXX) to turn to a heading of 090 and contact approach. We were starting to get busy on the decent and my captain; the pilot monitoring mis-interpreted the frequency. After calling back the previous controller to verify the frequency; we were then assigned the frequency again. Just before switching to the new frequency the controller told us we accepted the vector and new frequency in error; and to immediately turn to a 270-degree heading. We complied with the new instructions and the flight continued without further incident. We determined the event occurred when the controller franticly assigned us a 180-degree turn to a new heading. We immediately complied with the controller's new instructions. We were given an immediate turn to a 270-degree heading from the 090 heading. The autopilot was disconnected to comply quickly with the new instructions. There really aren't any suggestions for this one. It was simply a matter of being busy and having 3 flights that all sound the same. Everyone needed to be paying extra attention to ATC's instructions to make sure the proper flights took their assignments.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier inbound to ATL failed to comply with ATC instructions; citing similar sounding company call signs as the likely causal factor.

Narrative: I believe task saturation; and the similar sounding call signs with multiple flights caused confusion between the controller and our interpretation of his instructions. On the CANUK Arrival into ATL; we were given a heading by ATC I believe was in error. At the time the controller was very busy and had 3 different Air Carrier flights with similar sounding flight numbers. Our flight # was XXXX; but there was a XYXX; and another similar number also on the same frequency. The Controller instructed our flight (XXXX) to turn to a heading of 090 and contact approach. We were starting to get busy on the decent and my captain; the pilot monitoring mis-interpreted the frequency. After calling back the previous controller to verify the frequency; we were then assigned the frequency again. Just before switching to the new frequency the Controller told us we accepted the vector and new frequency in error; and to immediately turn to a 270-degree heading. We complied with the new instructions and the flight continued without further incident. We determined the event occurred when the Controller franticly assigned us a 180-degree turn to a new heading. We immediately complied with the Controller's new instructions. We were given an immediate turn to a 270-degree heading from the 090 heading. The autopilot was disconnected to comply quickly with the new instructions. There really aren't any suggestions for this one. It was simply a matter of being busy and having 3 flights that all sound the same. Everyone needed to be paying extra attention to ATC's instructions to make sure the proper flights took their assignments.

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.