2010-11 · NASA ASRS report 920671
An aircraft departed ATL after receiving a revised PDC SID which included the NUGGT FOUR. The IOE crew failed to remove the SUMMT FOUR from the FMC and so had track deviation on departure.
While performing new-hire IOE on the last round trip of a 3-day; I turned over FMS/ACARS entry to the trainee because he had been progressing well and doing a good job. After he finished; I looked over all of the settings and we checked the route to the release; which was for a SUMMT4 departure (departing 08R). Trainee was pilot flying; and after an uneventful departure; we were somewhere near VOCAL and with ATL departure. ATC issued direct HYK VOR; followed by a stern warning about adhering to the clearance. I didn't get the hint at that point. We headed toward HYK; but it wasn't until the handoff and second warning that I began to wonder what we had done wrong. I picked up the PDC that we had printed from ACARS and saw that we had been issued an altered clearance for the NUGGT4 departure; but the pilot flying had briefed the SUMMT4 during the preflight checks; and I had not cross-checked the PDC to ensure accuracy. The Controller stated that it hadn't caused an issue and that he wouldn't file a report; but left no doubt that he was unhappy about it. I thanked him for the heads-up and we changed frequencies; continuing the flight without further complications. Early in the course of IOE with this trainee; we had discussed clearance changes and how they were noted on ACARS PDCs. However; with the abundance of information that he was taking in over the next three days; that detail didn't stick with him. By failing to check the PDC from ACARS; I placed too much responsibility for accuracy with the trainee when I should have been overseeing every detail of his work. As PIC; I am responsible for adhering to the clearance whether I'm performing IOE or any other type of flight. I should ensure that I cross-check of the PDC/clearance to the filed plan on ALL flights; regardless of whether it is IOE; Operator Error; or just a normal line flight. This deviation was easily avoidable!
This was my last turn on my 3 days of IOE. The Captain allowed me to input all the data in the FMS and ACARS. This was the first time I had seen an amended flight plan; meaning the information on the PDC. I didn't notice it; nor question it. I entered the original flight plan as follows: ATL SUMMT4 ..... However; the PDC had an amendment: NUGGT4 RAFTN after I entered all the data; the Captain reviewed all of my inputs. Finally; we went through the flight plan together and executed the flight plan and went on our way. We were notified about 5 minutes after departure that we had deviated from our clearance. The ATC Controller firmly stated that he didn't know why our company kept filing the original route over VXV and that it is always amended. He said to correct it and get back on course and that he wouldn't make an issue out of it this time. He advised us to notify our company of this. No other incident occurred. I think the major problem is that ACARS is really not taught to operational level in training until IOE. That puts a lot of pressure on the training Captain to have to teach while trying to conduct normal operations with the pressure of ground; gate; and company trying to keep every flight operating on an on-time schedule. I think it would be in the best interest of the company; trainees; and safety of flight if more ground training occurred with ACARS operations.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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