MLG MISHEARS INTXN NAME; HDG DEV.

Narrative

FLT WAS FROM ATL-DTW. WE WERE FLYING THE MIZAR 1 ARR INTO DTW AND IN A DSCNT. WE WERE TALKING TO ZOB AND THEN METRO-APCH CTL. WHILE DSNDING TO FL210 ACFT LOST ITS ALT CAPTURE WHEN I SELECTED A DIFFERENT MODE ON THE AUTOPLT. REALIZING MY MISTAKE; I IMMEDIATELY SELECTED A CLB ON THE AUTOPLT WHILE THE ACFT CONTINUED TO DSND. WHEN THE AUTOPLT DIDN'T RESPOND I PULLED THE YOKE TO RETURN THE ACFT TO THE ASSIGNED ALT. EXCESSIVE FORCE WAS NECESSARY TO BRING THE ACFT BACK TO LEVEL FLT AND MAINTAIN ALT. (AUTOPLT HAD TRIMMED THE ACFT TO AN ALMOST FULL NOSE-DOWN POS.) AFTER LEVELING AT FL210 (LOWEST ALT WAS 20.6) AND REDUCING STICK FORCES; AUTOPLT WAS DISCONNECTED AND THE JET WAS TRIMMED USING NORMAL TRIM. (ALTERNATE TRIM DIDN'T RESPOND.) DURING ALL THIS WE WERE GIVEN NUMEROUS HDG AND ALT CHANGES. THEN; WE WERE TURNED TO AN INTERCEPT HDG; TOLD TO REJOIN THE ARR ON THE INBOUND RADIAL TO MIZAR; DSND AND MAINTAIN 12000 FT; GIVEN A CLRNC TO DEPART; WHAT WE UNDERSTOOD TO BE RAZIM; ON A 040 DEG HDG AND FINALLY GIVEN A FREQ CHANGE TO APCH CTL. (ALL OF THIS WAS IN THE SAME RADIO XMISSION.) AFTER DEPARTING RAZIM ON A 040 DEG HDG; WE HAD FLOWN 10-15 NM BEFORE APCH CTL ASKED WHAT FIX WE HAD TAKEN THE 040 DEG HDG FROM. WE TOLD HIM RAZIM. HE TOLD US IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MIZAR. TO ADD TO ALL THIS CONFUSION WE WERE FLYING AROUND A LINE OF TSTMS THAT WAS RAPIDLY APCHING THE ARPT FROM THE W (RPTS OF SEVERE TURB; GUSTS UP TO 50 KTS AND 1 INCH HAIL). THE REST OF THE APCH AND LNDG WERE UNEVENTFUL. THE WX WAS OF CONCERN TO US; IN NOT ONLY AVOIDING IT BUT IN THAT WE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO GET INTO DTW. SOME SUGGESTIONS FROM MY VIEWPOINT IN PREVENTING A SIMILAR SIT. USE THE STARS AND LET THE PLTS FLY THEM. THEY ARE SET UP TO HELP TFC FLOW AND REDUCE CTLR WORKLOAD SO USE THEM. RADIO XMISSIONS SHOULD FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES IN THE AIM. TOO MUCH INFO IN A RADIO XMISSION CAN CAUSE SOME IMPORTANT INFO TO BE MISSED OR MISINTERPRETED. IN THE FUTURE I WILL SLOW THE PROCESS DOWN WHEN GETTING INFO OVERLOAD.