Narrative:

Aircraft X received his clearance via pre departure clearance from me as I was working clearance. I accidentally pressed the down arrow one too many times while I was sending his clearance; and the pilot received the clearance 'climb via the SID; except maintain 12;000' as opposed to what he was supposed to receive; 'climb via SID except maintain 5;000.' once cleared for takeoff; he climbed as per the clearance that he received. The pilot checked on to norcal departure saying he was climbing to 12;000 as opposed to 5;000; but the controller didn't catch it and the aircraft deviated into another sector's airspace. 'Climb via the SID' in the pre departure clearance clearances that we send out should be changed to 'climb via (the actual name of the SID); ex; 'climb via the Loupe2 departure; except maintain 5000.' this gives and extra layer of redundancy; and if the pilot sees that his route says the Loupe2; but he is cleared to climb via a different departure procedure; then something is wrong and questions would be raised. This would also act as a double check for the controller; as he or she now has to select not only the altitude; but the correct and matching departure procedure. Right now; the difference between receiving the correct altitude and receiving the incorrect altitude such as what happened in this case is the matter of one accidental button touch; and forcing the controller to add in the name of the departure procedure would help mitigate any errors.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SJC Controller working CD/FD issues the wrong altitude to an aircraft via PDC. NCT Controller expects aircraft to climb to 5;000; but aircraft is climbing to 12;000 and deviates into another controller's airspace.

Narrative: Aircraft X received his clearance via PDC from me as I was working clearance. I accidentally pressed the down arrow one too many times while I was sending his clearance; and the pilot received the clearance 'Climb via the SID; except maintain 12;000' as opposed to what he was supposed to receive; 'Climb via SID except maintain 5;000.' Once cleared for takeoff; he climbed as per the clearance that he received. The pilot checked on to Norcal departure saying he was climbing to 12;000 as opposed to 5;000; but the controller didn't catch it and the aircraft deviated into another sector's airspace. 'Climb via the SID' in the PDC clearances that we send out should be changed to 'Climb via (the actual name of the SID); ex; 'Climb via the Loupe2 departure; except maintain 5000.' This gives and extra layer of redundancy; and if the Pilot sees that his route says the Loupe2; but he is cleared to climb via a different departure procedure; then something is wrong and questions would be raised. This would also act as a double check for the controller; as he or she now has to select not only the altitude; but the correct and matching departure procedure. Right now; the difference between receiving the correct altitude and receiving the incorrect altitude such as what happened in this case is the matter of one accidental button touch; and forcing the controller to add in the name of the departure procedure would help mitigate any errors.

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.