Narrative:

The weather was moderate to heavy thunderstorms around the entire vicinity of the airport. The noise abatement procedure is to climb to 600 M (2;000 ft) then on course. The clearance was received upon taxi out with 'after departure turn right to 220 degrees. During course of taxi we received another clearance to cancel turn and proceed on course. Upon takeoff at 600 ft we started our turn only about 20 degree into turn when we realized at the same time tower called us abide by noise abatement we returned to course. Then! As we returned to course we received another turn to 210 and proceed on course before reaching 2;000 ft. The language barrier and phraseology is terrible down there. What they wanted you to do is abide by noise abatement then make the turn. Upon reaching 2;000 ft we commenced an on course turn. Nothing was said by the controller who wished us a good day and contact departure. FYI; we were following standard noise abatement procedures as outlined in aom and fom. First; we just finished a sequence with a report time of xa:00 with a departure of xb:31 on tuesday the 3rd and finished with us back at the hotel in our domicile at mid afternoon the same day then with another report time of shortly after midnight for the above mentioned trip. This day to night transition is impossible to deal with safely. I was completely exhausted and even fell asleep in the cab at the destination. There was; I believe an 8 in 24 issue with this and I was told by scheduling do not depart before early morning. The trip was even further delayed an additional hour for loading and late arrival. The majority of the first day's three legs were in the daytime. Then to get back late to our domicile in the middle of the afternoon and shift gears to night does not allow for proper rest! With flying into unfamiliar region and airports every effort has to be made for safety. Granted are we signed off for this? Technically yes; however in the environment we operate; more consideration has to be made for proper rest. I strongly feel in every sense of the word that 'fatigue' was the most major underlying cause for this error. Compounding it with foreign regions and language barriers this does not allow anyone to be on top of their game for a safe operation. Filling warm bodies in seats without proper rest in not safe. I am responsible for my rest but and I mean but it is up to a properly designed schedule to allow for this to happen. This sequence and type of day/night transition is unsafe! Further we need a web page to allow for previous trips to list some of the 'gotcha's' and allow for further insight to each of these new airports. The briefing guides are fine; however they can't cover what nuances may be encountered. The site should list each of the airports we service and [one should] be able to click on that airport and submit insight as what to expect; give day/time weather conditions and particulars. They all operate differently out there even list phraseology examples that we don't come across normally. What they say is not always what they mean.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-300 crew reported a track deviation and poor clearance response because of foreign language ATC issues and fatigue because of day to night duty periods with decreased sleep opportunities.

Narrative: The weather was moderate to heavy thunderstorms around the entire vicinity of the airport. The noise abatement procedure is to climb to 600 M (2;000 FT) then on course. The clearance was received upon taxi out with 'After departure turn right to 220 degrees. During course of taxi we received another clearance to cancel turn and proceed on course. Upon takeoff at 600 FT we started our turn only about 20 degree into turn when we realized at the SAME TIME Tower called us abide by noise abatement we returned to course. Then! As we returned to course we received ANOTHER turn to 210 and proceed on course before reaching 2;000 FT. The language barrier and phraseology is terrible down there. What they wanted you to do is abide by noise abatement THEN make the turn. Upon reaching 2;000 FT we commenced an on course turn. Nothing was said by the Controller who wished us a good day and contact Departure. FYI; we were following standard noise abatement procedures as outlined in AOM and FOM. First; we just finished a sequence with a report time of XA:00 with a departure of XB:31 on Tuesday the 3rd and finished with us back at the hotel in our domicile at mid afternoon the same day then with another report time of shortly after midnight for the above mentioned trip. This day to night transition is IMPOSSIBLE to deal with safely. I was completely exhausted and even fell asleep in the cab at the destination. There was; I believe an 8 in 24 issue with this and I was told by Scheduling DO NOT DEPART BEFORE early morning. The trip was even further delayed an additional hour for loading and late arrival. The majority of the first day's three legs were in the daytime. Then to get back late to our domicile in the middle of the afternoon and shift gears to night does not allow for proper rest! With flying into unfamiliar region and airports every effort HAS to be made for safety. Granted are we signed off for this? Technically yes; HOWEVER in the environment we operate; more consideration has to be made for proper rest. I strongly feel in every sense of the word that 'FATIGUE' was the most major underlying cause for this error. Compounding it with foreign regions and language barriers this does not allow anyone to be on top of their game for a safe operation. Filling warm bodies in seats without proper rest in not safe. I am responsible for my rest BUT and I mean BUT it is up to a properly designed schedule to allow for this to happen. This sequence and type of day/night transition is UNSAFE! Further we need a web page to allow for previous trips to list some of the 'GOTCHA'S' and allow for further insight to each of these new airports. The briefing guides are fine; however they can't cover what nuances may be encountered. The site should list each of the airports we service and [one should] be able to click on that airport and submit insight as what to expect; give day/time weather conditions and particulars. They all operate differently out there even list phraseology examples that we don't come across normally. What they say is not always what they mean.

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.