ATR42 CREW WAS TOLD THEY MISSED AN AIRWAY TURN AT AN INTXN THAT WAS STILL AHEAD OF THEM.

Date: 2002-04 · Aircraft: ATR 42 · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: deviation-track-heading-all-types|other-ctlr-handling-ctlr-incorrectly-stated-acft-miseed-turn

Synopsis

ATR42 CREW WAS TOLD THEY MISSED AN AIRWAY TURN AT AN INTXN THAT WAS STILL AHEAD OF THEM.

Narrative

OUR FLT PLAN CLRED US TO THE ALBANY ARPT VIA THE NEWARK 7 DEP TO BREZY THEN V39 TO MOONI THEN V478 TO V130 TO ALB. WE WERE OUTBOUND ON V39 WHICH IS THE 057 DEG RADIAL OF CARMEL VOR. WE WERE TO CONTINUE ON V39; WHICH REQUIRED A TURN AT SOARS INTXN NBOUND; WHICH WAS THE 355 RADIAL OFF THE BRIDGEPORT VOR. SOARS INTXN WAS 20 DME OFF THE 057 DEG RADIAL OF THE CARMEL VOR AND 32 DME OF THE 355 DEG RADIAL OF THE BRIDGEPORT VOR. THE PF WAS THE CAPT WHO HAD HIS RADIAL SET ON CARMEL 057 DEG RADIAL AND THE PNF WAS THE FO WHO HAD HIS RADIO SET TO THE 355 DEG RADIAL OFF THE BRIDGEPORT VOR. THE RADIOS WERE SET IN THE CUSTOMARY FASHION TO INTERCEPT THE NEW COURSE AT SOARS INTXN AND CONTINUE ON V39. AT 18 DME FROM CARMEL THE COURSE OF THE PNF WAS COMING IN AND A TURN WAS INITIATED TO A HDG OF 355 TO TRACK OUTBOUND ON THE 355 DEG RADIAL. ONCE THE ROLL OUT WAS COMPLETED I TUNED MY RADIO TO BRIDGEPORT 355 DEG RADIAL TO FLY TO OUTBOUND TO THE NEXT INTXN WHICH WAS MOONI AND WHICH WAS 10 MI N OF SOARS; THE FIX WE JUST PASSED. WITHIN 10 SECONDS OF MAKING THE ROLLOUT TO THE 355 DEG HDG; ZBW CAME ON AND SAID WE MISSED THE TURN AT MOONI AND TO TURN BACK. WE ASKED HIM TO PLEASE REPEAT AND HE SAID; 'YOU MISSED THE TURN; TURN BACK.' UP UNTIL THIS POINT; WE KNEW WHERE WE WERE AND WHAT RTE WE WERE TO FOLLOW. THE CTLR TOLD ME I MISSED A TURN AT A FIX THAT I HAD NOT YET COME TO. HE GAVE THE INSTRUCTION TO TURN BACK. SENSING THE URGENCY IN HIS VOICE I IMMEDIATELY TURNED BACK TO THE PREVIOUS 057 DEG HDG AND WAS XCHKING WITH THE FO AS TO OUR TRACK. DURING THIS TIME THE CTLR GAVE INSTRUCTIONS TO 2 OTHER ACFT. THE ELAPSED TIME WAS ROUGHLY 30 SECONDS. MY FO AND I CONFIRMED WE HAD NOT MADE IT TO MOONI AND THAT WE WERE ON THE CORRECT COURSE ON THE 355 DEG HDG WE WERE ON. I TOLD THE FO TO ASK FOR A HEADING. BEFORE THE FO COULD ASK; ZBW CAME BACK EVEN MORE URGENT. HE AGAIN STATED THAT WE MISSED THE TURN AT MOONI AND TO TURN TO A HDG OF 330 DEGS; BACK THE WAY WE WERE ORIGINALLY GOING. THE CTLR SAID THAT WE HAD MISSED THE TURN AT SOARS; NOT MOONI. WE WERE IN FACT ON COURSE AND WITHIN LIMITS. IT WAS THE CTLR'S INSTRUCTION OF TURN BACK AFTER WE HAD JUST MADE A TURN TO CAUSE US TO GET OFF THE AIRWAY CORRIDOR AND HIS NAMING A WRONG INTXN. THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAUSED CONFUSION AS TO OUR AWARENESS ON OUR FLT PLAN TRACK. NO SEPARATION LIMITS WERE EXCEEDED AND WE RE-ESTABLISHED OUR COURSE AND CONTINUED TO ALBANY WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. UPON ARRIVING IN ALBANY I PHONED ZBW AND DISCUSSED WITH THE SUPVR WHAT HAPPENED. THE CTR AND THE FLC AGREED ON 3 THINGS. 1) THE TURN AT SOARS SHOULD BE INITIATED MORE AGGRESSIVELY TO STAY TIGHTER ON THE AIRWAY DUE TO THE CONGESTION OF THAT CORRIDOR. 2) THE CTLR NAMED AN INCORRECT INTXN THAT WAS USED TO DESCRIBE A FIX THAT THE FLC HAD NOT YET REACHED. THE CTLR SHOULD HAVE USED CORRECT TERMINOLOGY. 3) THE TERM 'TURN BACK' SHOULD NOT BE USED. THE CTLR HAD THOUGHT WE NEVER TURNED. IN FACT WE DID TURN AND WHEN HE SAID 'TURN BACK;' WE DID. THIS TERM SHOULD NOT BE USED DUE TO THE CONFUSION THAT IT CAN CAUSE AND DID. THIS CONFUSION WAS MADE WORSE BY THE FACT IT WAS ON A BUSY FREQ WHERE THE FLC THOUGHT ACTION WAS NEEDED BEFORE FURTHER CLARIFICATION. OTHER POSSIBLE CHOICES BY THE CTLR COULD HAVE BEEN A QUESTION 'ARE YOU NOW ESTABLISHED ON THE 355 DEG RADIAL OFF BRIDGEPORT?' OR AN INSTRUCTION TO TURN TO A SPECIFIC HEADING.

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