Two different reports with confusion of similar sounding intersections (bluzz and blews) in the same...

Attributes
ACN	1177420
Time
Date	201406
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	M03.TRACON
State Reference	TN
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Medium Transport Low Wing 2 Turboprop Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	STAR BLUZZ1
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 6
Person 2
Function	Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 6
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Narrative:

Aircraft X was on a vector of 190 from ZME to go around weather and short cut the arrival route. The final controller informed me that the aircraft could have runway 18R to accommodate its parking. I assigned the aircraft runway 18R and told him to proceed to blews (the initial approach fix for 18R; pronounced 'blues'). That heading should have been a right hand turn to about 235 degrees; the aircraft turned left to a heading of approximately 110. I realized the aircraft was making an incorrect turn and called ZME to inform them that he would be turning back towards the airport. What the aircraft had done was turn towards another fix in our airspace called bluzz (also pronounced 'blues') the north eastern RNAV arrival fix. After getting the aircraft back towards the airport the pilot suggested on frequency that the those names be changed. Had there been another aircraft on the arrival from the northeast it would have been a very unsafe situation.the recommendation I make is the same that the pilot made; that one of the two fix names be changed to eliminate any future; potentially dangerous; confusion.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Two different reports with confusion of similar sounding intersections (BLUZZ and BLEWS) in the same airspace causing pilots to turn towards the other one.

Narrative: Aircraft X was on a vector of 190 from ZME to go around weather and short cut the arrival route. The Final Controller informed me that the aircraft could have Runway 18R to accommodate its parking. I assigned the aircraft Runway 18R and told him to proceed to BLEWS (the initial approach fix for 18R; pronounced 'blues'). That heading should have been a right hand turn to about 235 degrees; the aircraft turned left to a heading of approximately 110. I realized the aircraft was making an incorrect turn and called ZME to inform them that he would be turning back towards the airport. What the aircraft had done was turn towards another fix in our airspace called BLUZZ (also pronounced 'blues') the north eastern RNAV arrival fix. After getting the aircraft back towards the airport the pilot suggested on frequency that the those names be changed. Had there been another aircraft on the arrival from the northeast it would have been a very unsafe situation.The recommendation I make is the same that the pilot made; that one of the two fix names be changed to eliminate any future; potentially dangerous; confusion.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

Two different reports with confusion of similar sounding intersections (bluzz and blews) in the same airspace causing pilots to turn towards the other one.