Rno controller described a conflict event between a VFR departure and an air carrier; the reporter n...

Narrative:

I had a SR22 going to an airport I was not familiar with. Not knowing where the airport was I asked ground control (ground control) where the airport was; and based on the state he told me the airport was located in; I cleared the SR22 for take off from runway 34R believing the aircraft was going northwest bound. I gave him instructions to start an early left turn over downtown because I had a B737 I was about to clear for take off from runway 34L that was on a SID that takes him northeast. Once the SR22 started his turn northwest bound to downtown; and seeing that the SR22 was established on the northwest side of my departure path; I cleared the B737 for take off then cleared the SR22 on course. What I didn't know was that the airport the SR22 was flying to be really northeast and not northwest so the SR22 turned on course northeast bound right into the path of the B737. Though I visually acquired them separated out the tower windows; on radar they were at the same altitude with their data blocks overlapping. If I would of done what I usually do when I see an unfamiliar airport and asked the pilot his on course heading and if I wouldn't have assumed the SR22's direction of flight this problem would of never occurred.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RNO Controller described a conflict event between a VFR departure and an Air Carrier; the reporter noting an assumption was made regarding the VFR aircraft's course but was in error.

Narrative: I had a SR22 going to an airport I was not familiar with. Not knowing where the airport was I asked Ground Control (GC) where the airport was; and based on the state he told me the airport was located in; I cleared the SR22 for take off from Runway 34R believing the aircraft was going northwest bound. I gave him instructions to start an early left turn over downtown because I had a B737 I was about to clear for take off from Runway 34L that was on a SID that takes him northeast. Once the SR22 started his turn northwest bound to downtown; and seeing that the SR22 was established on the northwest side of my departure path; I cleared the B737 for take off then cleared the SR22 on course. What I didn't know was that the airport the SR22 was flying to be really northeast and not northwest so the SR22 turned on course northeast bound right into the path of the B737. Though I visually acquired them separated out the Tower windows; on RADAR they were at the same altitude with their Data Blocks overlapping. If I would of done what I usually do when I see an unfamiliar airport and asked the pilot his on course heading and if I wouldn't have assumed the SR22's direction of flight this problem would of never occurred.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1023083
Time
Date	201207
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	RNO.Airport
State Reference	NV
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	SR22
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict

Rno controller described a conflict event between a VFR departure and an air carrier; the reporter noting an assumption was made regarding the VFR aircraft's course but was in error.