ZBW controller described a near separation event when an air carrier made an unexpected turn toward ...

Narrative:

I was training at RA22 with two aircraft on frequency. Air carrier X was routed direct alb.POPPP1.mht and was descending to FL190. The other aircraft was a bdl departure climbing to FL230 direct syr. The two aircraft were route separated. Air carrier Y had been handed off to sector 38 and communication had been transferred. When air carrier X reached alb VOR; they made a sharp right turn to an approximate heading of 130. This heading placed him in direct conflict with air carrier Y climbing. The r-side immediately turned air carrier X left and stopped his descent. I called sector 38 and instructed them to stop air carrier Y at FL180. Separation was never lost. When questioned why he made such a sharp right turn at alb; air carrier X said 'we have alb..poppi on our flight plan'. Poppi is an intersection near the hfd VOR in connecticut. Recommendation; the POPPP1 arrival to mht is brand new. Changing the name of the arrival will prevent any further confusion between POPPP1 and poppi.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZBW Controller described a near separation event when an air carrier made an unexpected turn toward traffic; the flight crew explaining the POPPI intersection and the new POPPP1 STAR was the confusion factor.

Narrative: I was training at RA22 with two aircraft on frequency. Air Carrier X was routed direct ALB.POPPP1.MHT and was descending to FL190. The other aircraft was a BDL departure climbing to FL230 direct SYR. The two aircraft were route separated. Air Carrier Y had been handed off to Sector 38 and communication had been transferred. When Air Carrier X reached ALB VOR; they made a sharp right turn to an approximate heading of 130. This heading placed him in direct conflict with Air Carrier Y climbing. The R-Side immediately turned Air Carrier X left and stopped his descent. I called Sector 38 and instructed them to stop Air Carrier Y at FL180. Separation was never lost. When questioned why he made such a sharp right turn at ALB; Air Carrier X said 'We have ALB..POPPI on our flight plan'. POPPI is an intersection near the HFD VOR in Connecticut. Recommendation; the POPPP1 arrival to MHT is brand new. Changing the name of the arrival will prevent any further confusion between POPPP1 and POPPI.

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	911365
Time
Date	201009
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZBW.ARTCC
State Reference	NH
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 145 ER&LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR POPPP1
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Developmental
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

ZBW controller described a near separation event when an air carrier made an unexpected turn toward traffic; the flight crew explaining the poppi intersection and the new POPPP1 STAR was the confusion factor.