GLF4 ON INTL DEP FROM EGWU DISCOVERS IDENTIFIER FOR FIRST OCEANIC WAYPOINT IS AMBIGUOUS.

2007-01 · NASA ASRS report 723920

Date: 2007-01 · Aircraft: Gulfstream IV / G350 / G450 · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-less-severe|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

GLF4 ON INTL DEP FROM EGWU DISCOVERS IDENTIFIER FOR FIRST OCEANIC WAYPOINT IS AMBIGUOUS.

Narrative

I WANTED TO PASS ALONG AN UNUSUAL SITUATION I ENCOUNTERED ON AN OCEANIC FLT THE OTHER NIGHT. IT'S A TRAP; AND COULD HAVE CAUSED A GROSS NAV ERROR HAD WE NOT CONDUCTED OUR PROPER WAYPOINT VERIFICATION PER OUR SOP'S. OUR FLT PLAN HAD US COASTING OUT AT A DESIGNATED FIX; AND THEN PROCEEDING TO 6112N. AT FIRST LOOK; WE ASSUMED THAT WAS 61 N 12 W. WE LOADED THE FLT PLAN MANUALLY; AND NOT VIA UPLINK. WHEN I LINE SELECTED 6112N TO THE SCRATCHPAD AND THEN INTO THE 'SHOW WAYPOINT' PROMPT TO VERIFY THE COORDINATES; WE GOT A SURPRISE! IT SHOWED 61 N 12 DEGS 34 MINS W; AND NOT 12 DEGS 00.0 W. THE DATABASE WAS SHOWING US THE COORDINATES OF AN ACTUAL FIX ON THE ATLANTIC ORIENTATION CHART LABELED 6112N. OUR FLT PLAN COORDINATES HOWEVER SHOWED US GOING TO 61 N 12 W. AFTER GETTING OUR OCEANIC CLRNC; AND SEVERAL ADDITIONAL XMISSIONS WITH OCEANIC CLRNC DELIVERY; I WAS ABLE TO DETERMINE FROM SHANWICK THAT WE WERE CLRED TO 61 N 12 W AND NOT 6112N. I HAD TO BUILD A LATITUDE/LONGITUDE WAYPOINT AND ENTER IT INTO THE FLT PLAN INSTEAD OF INSERTING 6112N AS IT WOULD ONLY RECOGNIZE THAT AS 12 W 34 MINS. NEXT TIME YOU LOOK AT THE ATLANTIC ORIENTATION CHART OR PLOTTING CHART; FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THIS WAYPOINT; SO THAT YOU DON'T GET CAUGHT GOING TO THE WRONG PLACE. ALWAYS CHK YOUR COURSES AND DISTANCES ON THE PAPER FLT PLAN AGAINST THE FMS FOR PROPER WAYPOINT VERIFICATION. WE WILL BE WORKING TO HAVE THIS WAYPOINT RENAMED; BUT IN THE MEANTIME; DON'T BLINDLY TRUST THE FMS. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN OF THE PHILOSOPHY 'TRUST; BUT VERIFY.' TRUST THE FMS; BUT VERIFY EVERYTHING. REMEMBER IT WILL DO EXACTLY WHAT IT'S PROGRAMMED TO DO; AND IT'S UP TO US TO MAKE SURE IT'S DOING IT RIGHT.

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

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