B737-700 FLT CREW FAILS TO COMPLETELY RESOLVE QUESTIONS AS TO THEIR PDC CLEARED ROUTING PRIOR TO TKOF. TRACK DEV LATE IN FLT RESULTS.
Synopsis
B737-700 FLT CREW FAILS TO COMPLETELY RESOLVE QUESTIONS AS TO THEIR PDC CLEARED ROUTING PRIOR TO TKOF. TRACK DEV LATE IN FLT RESULTS.
Narrative
ABOUT 1 HR INTO THE FLT; ZID ASKED WHAT RTE WE WERE ON BECAUSE THEY WERE SHOWING US 25 MI OFF THE CLRED RTE THEY HAD. WE LOOKED AND WE WERE ON THE COMPANY 01 RTE AND THEY HAD US ON A WX DEV RTE VOR1; VOR2. WE CLRED UP WHAT THE REAL CLRNC WAS AND THEY CLRED US DIRECT FAM ON COURSE. THIS PROB BEGAN WITH THE DISPATCH RELEASE AND MY HANDLING OF A FEW ITEMS ON IT. FIRST; IN THE COMPANY RTE ON THE TOP LINE; IT SAID 'VOR1; VOR2' NOT THE USUAL 'SEE FILED RTE' WHEN WE ARE ON A NONSTANDARD RTE. THIS DID NOT THROW ME SINCE THE TOP R OF THE PAGE SAID IN BOLD PRINT 'NONSTANDARD RTE.' MY CONFUSION BEGAN FIRST WITH THE REMARKS SECTION AND THIS IS AN EXACT QUOTE; 'FILED TO TRY AND AVOID ENRTE WX.' HONESTLY; MY INTERP WAS THAT THE DISPATCHER HAD TRIED TO FILE AN ALTERNATE RTE BUT WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY FOR SOME REASON. NO PROB; I'LL SEE WHAT WE ARE CLRED ON ACARS. PDC GAVE ME THE STANDARD 'AS FILED' TERMINOLOGY AND THEN HAD A LINE '? NRP....' I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT WAS WRITTEN AFTER THE '? NRP.' SO I CONTACTED CLRNC ON THE RADIO TO SEE WHAT THIS WAS ABOUT AND INTENDED TO ASK THEM WHAT OUR CLRED RTE WAS. HE WAS BUSY AND PASSED ME A 'STANDBY.' I HAD TO TAKE A CALL FOR LAVATORY DUMP AND POTABLE WATER FROM THE BACK OF THE ACFT DURING THIS; PASSED IT TO OPS; AND THEN WENT BACK TO CLRNC. I CONTACTED HIM AGAIN AND SAID I WAS OFF FREQ BUT WAS NOW BACK. HE RESPONDED; 'I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE CALLING ABOUT. DISREGARD THE ALTERNATE RTE; YOU ARE CLRED AS FILED.' THIS IS THE CRUX OF MY FAILURE. I INTERPED THIS TO MEAN DISPATCH COULDN'T GET A WX RTE FILED FOR TFC REASON OR FLOW TO ZZZ OR WHATEVER AND WE WERE NOW ON THE 01 RTE. THAT'S WHAT I PUT IN AND THAT'S WHAT WE FLEW WHICH WAS ALL CORRECT UNTIL 70 MI PRIOR TO HNN WHEN WE SLOWLY DRIFTED N OF OUR CLRED COURSE (THE WX DEV RTE). THE FILED RTE ON THE RELEASE WAS THE WX RTE WHICH CONTAINED 6 DIFFERENT FIXES/JET RTES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RTE AS COMPARED OT THE 01 RTE. I CHKED THE INITIAL PART OF THE 01 RTE IN THE BOX TO THE FILED RTE SECTION OF THE DISPATCH RELEASE AND THEY WERE THE SAME; SO THAT TOLD ME I HAD THE CORRECT RTE IN THERE. I FAILED TO PAGE FORWARD SEVERAL TIMES TO SEE THE SLIGHT VARIATION LATER IN THE RTE. BOTTOM LINE: I LET NONSTANDARD DISPATCH COMMENTS IN THE REMARKS SECTION AND ATC CLRNC VERBIAGE LEAD ME DOWN A PATH OF WHAT THE CLRNC REALLY WASN'T. I SHOULD HAVE QUERIED DISPATCH ABOUT THEIR REMARKS SECTION SINCE IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME. I SHOULD HAVE READ THE ENTIRE RTE TO CLRNC DELIVERY AFTER SPEAKING WITH HIM RATHER THAN LETTING HIM RUSH ON TO ANOTHER RADIO CALL. I SHOULD HAVE CAUGHT THAT THE 01 RTE IN THE BOX DID NOT MATCH THE 'FILED RTE' SECTION OF THE DISPATCH RELEASE. WE RARELY TALK TO CLRNC AND I'VE NOTICED THAT WHEN WE DO; THEY ARE IN A HURRY TO GET DONE WITH US. OBVIOUSLY; IF WE ARE CALLING THEM; THERE IS A QUESTION. WE NEED TO FORCE THEM TO HEAR US AND NOT BE IN A HURRY.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.