ZMA controller described a confused event when traffic transferred from a tower was apparently on a ...

Narrative:

Two departures were given to us by the tower; the first was aircraft X who was coordinated on a 010 heading. The second was aircraft Y who was coordinated on a 315 heading. Aircraft X was radar identified and climbed on his 010 heading. When aircraft Y first tracked up; he appeared to be on a northwesterly heading; however moments after I radar identified him; I observed a turn to the north. I asked him immediately what heading he had been assigned from the tower. The pilot explained that he had been given a 315 heading with his take off clearance but when the tower switched him over to the center frequency; they had told him to fly heading 065 which put him back through aircraft X. Because both aircraft were climbing and turning; I was concerned that the existing separation between the two aircraft was diminishing (it was flashing with about 3 miles) so I instructed him to continue his right turn to 090 to reestablish separation. Recommendation; I can only speculate as to what happened on the other frequency; but generally speaking; giving a control instruction and frequency change at once is bad procedure.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZMA Controller described a confused event when traffic transferred from a Tower was apparently on a wrong heading; the reporter speculating combining a frequency transfer and heading simultaneously could has caused the situation.

Narrative: Two departures were given to us by the Tower; the first was Aircraft X who was coordinated on a 010 heading. The second was Aircraft Y who was coordinated on a 315 heading. Aircraft X was RADAR identified and climbed on his 010 heading. When Aircraft Y first tracked up; he appeared to be on a Northwesterly heading; however moments after I RADAR identified him; I observed a turn to the North. I asked him immediately what heading he had been assigned from the tower. The pilot explained that he had been given a 315 heading with his take off clearance but when the Tower switched him over to the Center frequency; they had told him to fly heading 065 which put him back through Aircraft X. Because both aircraft were climbing and turning; I was concerned that the existing separation between the two aircraft was diminishing (it was flashing with about 3 miles) so I instructed him to continue his right turn to 090 to reestablish separation. Recommendation; I can only speculate as to what happened on the other frequency; but generally speaking; giving a control instruction and frequency change at once is bad procedure.

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	1068919
Time
Date	201302
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZMA.ARTCC
State Reference	FL
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 310/T310C
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	PA-46 Malibu/Malibu Mirage/Malibu Matrix
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Person 2
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance

ZMA controller described a confused event when traffic transferred from a tower was apparently on a wrong heading; the reporter speculating combining a frequency transfer and heading simultaneously could has caused the situation.