Narrative:

Working sec 15 bgd lo; aircraft X was handing off to me with (-mervy) in the fourth line of the data block. Unaware of what that meant; to my knowledge it was not approved fourth line data. I called ZFW 47 falls high and inquired of what that meant. He then told me that it meant he was direct mervy; I said roger and hung up. I then took the handoff and inquired the aircraft to where he was proceeding direct to; the flight plan was showing that he was direct ama; aircraft X told me he was going to mervy and I asked him to spell it; he said 'roger mirve;' I then realized what the fix was and updated the flight plan. Controllers need to stop making up fourth line data and use approved fourth line data; this seems very common now days for controllers to do this; and it actually makes it more difficult and takes more time than if you would just call and verbally coordinate.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZAB Controller saw something in the fourth line of the data block that he did not know the meaning of. Reporter called other Controller and was told. Controller then received aircraft on frequency and asked where it was going. Reporter then had pilot spell the name. Reporter then knew where the aircraft was going. Due to misspelled intersection; Controller had no idea where the aircraft was going. Controller wants people to stop putting information in the fourth block unless it is approved.

Narrative: Working sec 15 BGD LO; Aircraft X was handing off to me with (-MERVY) in the fourth line of the data block. Unaware of what that meant; to my knowledge it was not approved fourth line data. I called ZFW 47 Falls High and inquired of what that meant. He then told me that it meant he was direct MERVY; I said roger and hung up. I then took the handoff and inquired the aircraft to where he was proceeding direct to; the flight plan was showing that he was direct AMA; Aircraft X told me he was going to MERVY and I asked him to spell it; he said 'roger MIRVE;' I then realized what the fix was and updated the flight plan. Controllers need to stop making up fourth line data and use approved fourth line data; this seems very common now days for controllers to do this; and it actually makes it more difficult and takes more time than if you would just call and verbally coordinate.

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.