Narrative:

Our current procedures require us to retain expired chart pages in the ship sets once the new pages become active. I wish to challenge this policy under human factors principles.1. Lack of chart verification: prior to the effective date of the new charts; there is a visible means for detecting a chart selection error. If I pull out the new (future) chart; I can immediately see that I have not reached the effective date; go back; and select the proper chart for use. There is an immediate and visible means for detecting my error. Conversely; following the effective date of the new chart; if I pull out the old chart by mistake; there is no verification of this error on the chart. It looks like any other valid chart. The only way to detect the error is for the other pilot to detect my error (which normally only happens during an approach briefing) or for me to conduct a verification check by searching my ship set for a more current page. Both of these procedures are not practiced or directed.2. Chart renumbering: this effect is especially troubling when the charts are completely renumbered and reordered as occurred at hou this last cycle. It is not as simple as noticing a new arrival chart next to the old arrival chart and selecting the correct one. The correct chart may be several pages displaced and renumbered. The same problem occurs when the previous pilot has not replaced the pages in the proper order. In general; retaining the expired pages forces pilots to conduct additional investigations to verify the correct page. It is not likely that most pilots will exercise this much diligence.3. Under the system of threat and error management; we cannot support this current practice. This system is designed to weigh threats and vulnerabilities and balance them to produce the best outcome. In this case; preserving the expired charts is apparently a desire to ensure that pilots don't destroy the wrong chart. We want our contractor to extract the expired pages; a step that takes many weeks to complete. This is balanced against the error of pilots inadvertently using an expired chart. Clearly; the greater threat is with pilots using an expired chart. Additionally; the first threat assumes that pilots are particularly error-prone when it comes to extracting expired charts. I don't believe that any seasoned pilot is unskilled at chart removal. Finally; if one pilot should inadvertently remove the wrong chart; we have current procedures for replacing those missing charts using the chart makers web site. In the end; our contractor is still responsible for conducting a quality control on the charts before replacing them in the aircraft. Any expired chart extraction error would be detected by other flight crews or the contractor. In balance; the current procedure of retaining the expired charts exposes the operation to an unnecessary threat. Pilots should be permitted to remove expired charts after the effective date of the new charts.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier pilot laments the Company's practice of retaining expired charts in the aircraft ship sets until the contractor can remove them in the next revision cycle. The reporter believes they should be removed by the pilots as discovered.

Narrative: Our current procedures require us to retain expired Chart pages in the ship sets once the new pages become active. I wish to challenge this policy under human factors principles.1. Lack of chart verification: Prior to the effective date of the new charts; there is a visible means for detecting a chart selection error. If I pull out the new (future) chart; I can immediately see that I have not reached the effective date; go back; and select the proper chart for use. There is an immediate and visible means for detecting my error. Conversely; following the effective date of the new chart; if I pull out the old chart by mistake; there is no verification of this error on the chart. It looks like any other valid chart. The only way to detect the error is for the other Pilot to detect my error (which normally only happens during an approach briefing) or for me to conduct a verification check by searching my ship set for a more current page. Both of these procedures are not practiced or directed.2. Chart renumbering: This effect is especially troubling when the charts are completely renumbered and reordered as occurred at HOU this last cycle. It is not as simple as noticing a new arrival chart next to the old arrival chart and selecting the correct one. The correct chart may be several pages displaced and renumbered. The same problem occurs when the previous Pilot has not replaced the pages in the proper order. In general; retaining the expired pages forces Pilots to conduct additional investigations to verify the correct page. It is not likely that most Pilots will exercise this much diligence.3. Under the system of Threat and Error Management; we cannot support this current practice. This system is designed to weigh threats and vulnerabilities and balance them to produce the best outcome. In this case; preserving the expired charts is apparently a desire to ensure that Pilots don't destroy the wrong chart. We want our Contractor to extract the expired pages; a step that takes many weeks to complete. This is balanced against the error of Pilots inadvertently using an expired chart. Clearly; the greater threat is with Pilots using an expired chart. Additionally; the first threat assumes that Pilots are particularly error-prone when it comes to extracting expired charts. I don't believe that any seasoned Pilot is unskilled at chart removal. Finally; if one Pilot should inadvertently remove the wrong chart; we have current procedures for replacing those missing charts using the Chart Makers web site. In the end; our Contractor is still responsible for conducting a quality control on the charts before replacing them in the aircraft. Any expired chart extraction error would be detected by other Flight Crews or the Contractor. In balance; the current procedure of retaining the expired charts exposes the operation to an unnecessary threat. Pilots should be permitted to remove expired charts after the effective date of the new charts.

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.