ZID controller described an airspace incursion when an air carrier made an unexpected turn into adja...

Narrative:

I was working on the d-side position at the indy and king sector. We had an E145 on frequency who was filed ord..etame.emege..flm..gzg... The E145 turned northeast instead of heading southeast to flm. I was on the line with another controller when it happened. We received a call from another controller at 76 sector asking where the E145 was going. The radar controller asked the pilot where he was going; he didn't' get a clear answer; he read back a fix emerge which may have been mistaken for emege. The aircraft violated the G33 burbon sector in chicago center's airspace. Recommendation: verify the route with the company to make sure they have the correct spelling and route information so we will not have this happen again.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZID Controller described an airspace incursion when an Air Carrier made an unexpected turn into adjacent airspace; the reporter suggesting similar sound fix names were confused by the flight crew.

Narrative: I was working on the D-Side position at the Indy and King Sector. We had an E145 on frequency who was filed ORD..ETAME.EMEGE..FLM..GZG... The E145 turned northeast instead of heading southeast to FLM. I was on the line with another controller when it happened. We received a call from another controller at 76 Sector asking where the E145 was going. The RADAR Controller asked the pilot where he was going; he didn't' get a clear answer; he read back a fix EMERGE which may have been mistaken for EMEGE. The aircraft violated the G33 Burbon Sector in Chicago Center's airspace. Recommendation: Verify the route with the company to make sure they have the correct spelling and route information so we will not have this happen again.

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	952349
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZID.ARTCC
State Reference	IN
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 145 ER&LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 129
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Handoff / Assist
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Developmental
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

ZID controller described an airspace incursion when an air carrier made an unexpected turn into adjacent airspace; the reporter suggesting similar sound fix names were confused by the flight crew.