Narrative:

The captain and I were scheduled for a quick turn in ewr. We had to switch planes; and we were late on the inbound leg. We completed all of our preflight duties. Our flight plan was filed dct elvae dct col dct white jxxx... When I called clearance delivery we were cleared via the newark 8 departure; radar vectors to white jxxx as filed. According to our poh; we are to program the FMS by the 'cleared' flight plan. I entered the route by which we were cleared; and the captain verified that it was correct. During the departure brief; we covered the initial heading of 190 off of 22R; followed by the right turn to 220 at 2.3 DME. Due to the rush; we missed the lower left hand corner; which covers routing to initial fixes. After takeoff; we turned to a 190 heading. At approximately 2 DME (0.3 miles before the next turn was required) departure gave us the clearance 'cleared direct elvae direct col'. These fixes were not part of our cleared route; and were not in the FMS. I queried ATC; saying 'col isn't in our flight plan.' the controller responded aggressively by saying 'it's explained on the procedure.' I responded 'but we were cleared to white.' the controller responded with a heading assignment of 220. Not long after that; he gave us direct to col. The captain then followed the FMS to col after it was assigned. The flight continued without incident. Some suggestions: first off; we missed the box on the departure procedure. Had we seen the box and briefed the possible route; we could have come up with a strategy to cover this exact scenario. After talking about it during cruise; we couldn't come up with a good answer. My concern with this event is the contradictory nature of the clearance; and the unnecessary; confusing routing in the newark 8 departure. Our clearance from clearance delivery was 'newark 8 radar vectors to white.' by poh; I should load white as our first fix in the flight plan; and be ready to input a fix that isn't on the flight plan at a low altitude during a phase of flight with tight lateral requirements. However; the newark 8 departure says that if white is the first fix; I can expect elvae col or col R350/col/col R-204. This implies that I should put white as my third fix; and remember that my original clearance was white; but be ready to go to the first fix in my flight plan. This would be extremely problematic in a lost communication situation; and goes against the idea of positive navigation. What makes this situation especially frustrating is that the route described in the departure procedure was in our original flight plan; and clearance delivery removed it! If that route was the one to be flown; why was it not included in the clearance? My suggestion to avoid this recurrence on the part of the flight crew is to slow down. During the 'rush' periods is when mistakes are more likely to happen. Recognize it; and deliberately slow down. On the part of ATC; issue straight forward clearances. The new york airspace is complicated enough. It only further increases the workload to require a flight crew in an already extremely critical phase of flight to be ready for one of two different routes; when one of them isn't loaded in the FMS.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Crew programmed the FMS for the EWR 8 SID WHITE transition as per Clearance Delivery but were confused after ATC cleared them direct ELVAE direct COL. The FMS was not programmed for that routing.

Narrative: The Captain and I were scheduled for a quick turn in EWR. We had to switch planes; and we were late on the inbound leg. We completed all of our preflight duties. Our flight plan was filed DCT ELVAE DCT COL DCT WHITE JXXX... When I called clearance delivery we were cleared via the Newark 8 departure; radar vectors to White JXXX as filed. According to our POH; we are to program the FMS by the 'cleared' flight plan. I entered the route by which we were cleared; and the Captain verified that it was correct. During the departure brief; we covered the initial heading of 190 off of 22R; followed by the right turn to 220 at 2.3 DME. Due to the rush; we missed the lower left hand corner; which covers routing to initial fixes. After takeoff; we turned to a 190 heading. At approximately 2 DME (0.3 miles before the next turn was required) departure gave us the clearance 'cleared direct ELVAE direct COL'. These fixes were not part of our cleared route; and were not in the FMS. I queried ATC; saying 'COL isn't in our flight plan.' The Controller responded aggressively by saying 'it's explained on the procedure.' I responded 'but we were cleared to WHITE.' The Controller responded with a heading assignment of 220. Not long after that; he gave us direct to COL. The Captain then followed the FMS to COL after it was assigned. The flight continued without incident. Some suggestions: first off; we missed the box on the departure procedure. Had we seen the box and briefed the possible route; we could have come up with a strategy to cover this exact scenario. After talking about it during cruise; we couldn't come up with a good answer. My concern with this event is the contradictory nature of the clearance; and the unnecessary; confusing routing in the Newark 8 departure. Our clearance from clearance delivery was 'Newark 8 radar vectors to WHITE.' By POH; I should load WHITE as our first fix in the flight plan; and be ready to input a fix that isn't on the flight plan at a low altitude during a phase of flight with tight lateral requirements. However; the Newark 8 departure says that if WHITE is the first fix; I can expect ELVAE COL or COL R350/COL/COL R-204. This implies that I should put White as my third fix; and remember that my original clearance was WHITE; but be ready to go to the first fix in my flight plan. This would be extremely problematic in a lost communication situation; and goes against the idea of positive navigation. What makes this situation especially frustrating is that the route described in the departure procedure was in our original flight plan; and clearance delivery removed it! If that route was the one to be flown; why was it not included in the clearance? My suggestion to avoid this recurrence on the part of the flight crew is to slow down. During the 'rush' periods is when mistakes are more likely to happen. Recognize it; and deliberately slow down. On the part of ATC; issue straight forward clearances. The New York Airspace is complicated enough. It only further increases the workload to require a flight crew in an already extremely critical phase of flight to be ready for one of two different routes; when one of them isn't loaded in the FMS.

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.