Narrative:

While enroute at 8000FT; phl departure without warning quickly issued holding instructions to us; 'hold at brand intersection as published' (on V123). I first looked at the fix. It was 1 minute away. We had all the lga charts out; but we were not on an arrival and did not have our low altitude charts out to find the 'as published' hold. So I asked ATC to read us the as published hold. The controller gave a most roundabout holding instructions. In hindsight; the controller was telling us how to identify brand intersection; which wasn't the problem. In short; the controller told us left hand turns. We clearly heard it; wrote it down; and read it back. As we were turning left in the holding pattern; the controller queried us about the direction of turn. The controller said; left turns might have been given; but meant to give right turns. We got vectored back into the holding pattern for right hand turns. When we found time during this; I quickly looked through all the arrivals and the en-route chart to find the published hold at brand. I could not find it. Not until we were on the ground did I find brand on the low altitude en-route chart #47 with the hold. I incorrectly assumed the 'blowup' section of ny area would be the same. But it only showed brand without the hold. We were unprepared for a literally last minute as published hold. When we asked for help; ATC gave us incorrect instructions. Also; the en-route blow-up unexpectedly did not publish the hold. We asked ATC to read us the holding instructions. Don't be afraid to ask ATC for vectors until the hold instructions are understood correctly.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight crew of an air carrier aircraft has difficulty entering a 'published' hold at BRAND intersection when the lead-time from the clearance is insufficient to allow access to the necessary chart.

Narrative: While enroute at 8000FT; PHL Departure without warning quickly issued holding instructions to us; 'hold at BRAND intersection as published' (on V123). I first looked at the fix. It was 1 minute away. We had all the LGA charts out; but we were not on an arrival and did not have our low altitude charts out to find the 'as published' hold. So I asked ATC to read us the as published hold. The Controller gave a most roundabout holding instructions. In hindsight; the Controller was telling us how to identify BRAND intersection; which wasn't the problem. In short; the Controller told us left hand turns. We clearly heard it; wrote it down; and read it back. As we were turning left in the holding pattern; the Controller queried us about the direction of turn. The Controller said; left turns might have been given; but meant to give right turns. We got vectored back into the holding pattern for right hand turns. When we found time during this; I quickly looked through all the arrivals and the en-route chart to find the published hold at BRAND. I could not find it. Not until we were on the ground did I find BRAND on the low altitude en-route chart #47 with the hold. I incorrectly assumed the 'blowup' section of NY area would be the same. But it only showed BRAND without the hold. We were unprepared for a literally last minute as published hold. When we asked for help; ATC gave us incorrect instructions. Also; the en-route blow-up unexpectedly did not publish the hold. We asked ATC to read us the holding instructions. Don't be afraid to ask ATC for vectors until the hold instructions are understood correctly.

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.