Narrative:

As aircraft X approached my boundary I saw he was VFR at 9;500 ft in field 8. Then I read the remarks said; 'VFR in top.' no; that is not a typo; it used the word 'in.' I asked the adjacent approach if aircraft X was VFR or IFR. They said; 'we show VFR; why?' after the pilot was on my frequency I asked his flight plan; VFR or IFR in VFR on top conditions? He said IFR. We changed field 8 to read otp/95; and I re-issued maintain VFR on top clearance. Recommendation; I realize we do not use this tool very often; maybe it could be reviewed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller described an IFR vs. VFR vs. VFR-ON-TOP flight plan confusion event; noting more training is necessary for some controllers regarding this issue.

Narrative: As Aircraft X approached my boundary I saw he was VFR at 9;500 FT in field 8. Then I read the remarks said; 'VFR IN TOP.' No; that is not a typo; it used the word 'IN.' I asked the adjacent Approach if Aircraft X was VFR or IFR. They said; 'We show VFR; why?' After the pilot was on my frequency I asked his flight plan; VFR or IFR in VFR ON TOP conditions? He said IFR. We changed field 8 to read OTP/95; and I re-issued maintain VFR on top clearance. Recommendation; I realize we do not use this tool very often; maybe it could be reviewed.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.