ZID controller issued a 'direct' to destination clearance when in fact the destination was unclear r...

Narrative:

A P180 was 10 left for traffic. Csv hi called and gave me control of the P180 to turn him back on course. As I cleared him to his destination; ues; I said 'cleared direct waukesha' he hesitated and then said 'where.' then I said 'cleared direct to your destination' he said oh; ok. My d-side and I were still a little uneasy so I went back and asked to verify his destination; which he said; was 'mkc.' atlanta center must have changed the destination in his routing. First of all; don't say 'cleared direct destination.' be specific with the name and/or identifier of the airport. Second of all; be careful when using a splat or down arrow. I don't see why this was even used for him; but I don't know the situation in ZTL.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZID Controller issued a 'direct' to destination clearance when in fact the destination was unclear resulting in the aircraft turning to an unexpected heading.

Narrative: A P180 was 10 left for traffic. CSV HI called and gave me control of the P180 to turn him back on course. As I cleared him to his destination; UES; I said 'cleared direct Waukesha' He hesitated and then said 'where.' Then I said 'cleared direct to your destination' He said oh; Ok. My D-Side and I were still a little uneasy so I went back and asked to verify his destination; which he said; was 'MKC.' Atlanta Center must have changed the destination in his routing. First of all; don't say 'cleared direct destination.' Be specific with the name and/or identifier of the airport. Second of all; be careful when using a splat or down arrow. I don't see why this was even used for him; but I don't know the situation in ZTL.

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	1058089
Time
Date	201301
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZID.ARTCC
State Reference	IN
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	P180 Avanti
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance

ZID controller issued a 'direct' to destination clearance when in fact the destination was unclear resulting in the aircraft turning to an unexpected heading.