A flight crew cleared for the ECA.ECA2 arrival to OAK; but entered the ECA.MADNS in FMC before receiving the PDC clearance. Neither pilot checked the routing; so a track error occurred after the common leg.
Synopsis
A flight crew cleared for the ECA.ECA2 arrival to OAK; but entered the ECA.MADNS in FMC before receiving the PDC clearance. Neither pilot checked the routing; so a track error occurred after the common leg.
Narrative
Captain entered route in the FMC prior to receiving the release and the clearance. He entered the standard route for this flight; but the flight was cleared via a non-standard route; which was as the release showed. Entry error was ECA.MADN5 instead of ECA.ECA2. First Officer confirmed that clearance matched the release; but failed to catch FMC STAR entry error. This resulted in a wrong turn at common fix along the route; which was noticed and corrected by ATC. Additionally; Captain briefed the STAR as it was entered in the FMC; so no discrepancy was noticed during the arrival briefing. Basically; just do what I thought that I always did (at least prior to this event); which is to verify RTE 2 matches the release and that they both match the clearance; and to resolve any discrepancies regardless of who entered what; when; and how into the FMC. Personally; I feel that any 'additional help' by the Captain with regard to preflight duties tends to disrupt my normal flow and often creates more workload rather than less.
Second reporter narrative
I arrived at this originating aircraft early before the First Officer; completed my preflight items; and attempted to help by starting the alignment and programming the FMC for this leg. I did not have the release so I entered the standard routing to OAK. Normally; if I have extra time; I will also pull out the charts for the arrival as well as the departure; which I did. When the release came; it had non-standard routing. The only difference from what I entered was the arrival. At OAK; the MADWIN Arrival (ECA.MADWN); which was entered by the standard routing; sets you up for Runway 29. The MANTECA Arrival (ECA.ECA2) sets you up to Runway 11; which was the non-standard part for this leg and day. These two separate charts are similar in name and coding and have identical routing; courses; and altitudes except for the last two fixes; which are close to the airport. The First Officer did not enter the different arrival in his preflight and we both missed the arrival change when crosschecking the route of flight versus the PDC. Prior to top of descent; we briefed the wrong arrival because we missed the change in the route of flight and I had already pulled out the wrong chart. The First Officer did exactly what he was supposed to do; crosschecking the FMC versus what I briefed as the pilot flying. Because these arrivals are identical up to the last couple of fixes; everything appeared to be normal. However; we were supposed to turn at LOCKE to go to Runway 11 and we missed this turn. NCT Approach immediately noticed we failed to turn; called us; and turned us in the proper direction. The remainder of the approach and landing was normal. Several items may help prevent this from happening to someone else. As Captain; our good intentions to help the First Officer might actually hurt by programming the FMC early before receiving the actual paperwork. We can enter wrong data or interfere with the First Officer's preflight flows; which could cause the First Officer to make a mistake they normally would not make. In the future; I will not do any programming without paperwork or checking with the First Officer to see if my effort to help would hinder his preflight.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.