MLG FLEW WRONG AIRWAY FROM CHS; J121 RATHER THAN J165.

Date: 1993-07 · Aircraft: Medium Large Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng

Anomalies: deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance

Synopsis

MLG FLEW WRONG AIRWAY FROM CHS; J121 RATHER THAN J165.

Narrative

IT ALL STARTED WITH A PDC ON THE RAMP IN MIA. THE PDC READ ON THE ACARS EXACTLY AS FOLLOWS: 'EQUIP MLG SQUAWK XXXX ALT 33000 FT - MIA ORL J-53 CRG J-51 SAV J-55 CHS J- 165 J-109 ./. PHL MIA 5 DEP - MAINTAIN 5000 FT EXPECT REQUESTED ALT 10 MINS AFTER DEP. DEP CTL FREQ 119.45; GND CTL FREQ 121.2 - SQUAWK XXXX PDC VALID UNTIL XA15Z END OF MESSAGE.' AT THE GATE IN MIA; I DEBATED WITH THE FO 'WHAT DOES ./. PHL MEAN ON THE PDC AFTER J-109?' WE THEN DECIDED WE WOULD VERIFY OUR ROUTING WITH ARTCC AS WE WERE PROCEEDING N OF CHS. WELL; I'VE BEEN PREVIOUSLY FLYING A LOT FROM PBI AND MCO TO PHL AND BEEN USING THE CEDAR LAKE 4 ARR BUT MIA OUR COMPANY HAD FILED THE DUPONT 3 ARR. HOWEVER; WITHOUT THE PDC SHOWING NOTHING BUT './. PHL' IT WAS EASY TO BE DISTRACTED BY REDUNDANT TRAIN OF THOUGHT AND ASSUME CHS RTE WAS GOING TO ORF AND THE (VCN.VCN4) ARR TO PHL INSTEAD OF THE (OTT.DPNT3). IT WAS 100 NM NE OF J-121 THAT I SAID TO THE FO TO REMIND HIM TO CONFIRM WITH ATC THE './. PHL' FROM THE PDC CLRNC AND AT THAT MOMENT I SAID 'WE'RE ON THE WRONG AIRWAY' AND AS I PICKED THE MIKE UP TO XMIT TO; I BELIEVE ATL CTR AND TELL THEM; AND ALSO REQUEST A CORRECTION TO THE ROUTING; JUST BEFORE I WAS GOING TO XMIT; CTR ASKED US THE SAME. IMMEDIATELY; I CONCURRED AND ASKED FOR A CORRECTION. THEY BEGAN A XMISSION AND JUST A BLURP AND STOPPED. A 5-10 SECOND PAUSE OCCURRED AND CTR RECLRED US PRESENT HDG AND FLY J- 121 SIE CEDAR LAKE 4 ARR. THE WAY OVER ORF WE ANTICIPATED BY ACCIDENT. OBVIOUSLY THERE WAS NO CONFLICT. NO TFC CLASHES. 100 NM GONE UNNOTICED AND ROUTINE AND AMENDMENT TO ROUTING CLRED US TO PROCEED ON J-121 COMFORTABLY TOWARD ORF. STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT './. PHL' MEANS. SUGGEST THIS BE CORRECTED ON PDC'S OR INFO PASSED ON TO FLCS IF THIS MEANS SOMETHING IMPORTANT OR WAS THIS JUST A COMPUTER ERROR?

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.