 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Air taxi captain reported a track deviation while on the serfr three arrival to sfo. Captain cited similar sounding fixes narwl and nrrli as a contributing factor.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1536098 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201804 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | SFO.Airport |
| State Reference | CA |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Medium Transport Low Wing 2 Turboprop Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | Direct STAR SERFR THREE RNAV |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120 Flight Crew Total 8566 Flight Crew Type 1120 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types |
Narrative:
Enroute to sfo; leading a pack of arrivals; oakland center; I thought gave us direct 'narwl'; which made sense since it is downrange of the serfr 3 STAR; however; they actually gave us direct 'nrrli' also downrange on the STAR. After 2 minutes; oakland realized that we were heading to the wrong waypoint; and corrected us to direct 'nrrli'. No traffic conflicts or other issues; sounded like a common occurrence. Probably a bad idea to name two waypoints on the serfr STAR both narwl (gnarl) and nrrli (gnarly).
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air taxi Captain reported a track deviation while on the SERFR THREE Arrival to SFO. Captain cited similar sounding fixes NARWL and NRRLI as a contributing factor.
Narrative: Enroute to SFO; leading a pack of arrivals; Oakland Center; I thought gave us direct 'NARWL'; which made sense since it is downrange of the SERFR 3 STAR; however; they actually gave us direct 'NRRLI' also downrange on the STAR. After 2 minutes; Oakland realized that we were heading to the wrong waypoint; and corrected us to direct 'NRRLI'. No traffic conflicts or other issues; sounded like a common occurrence. Probably a bad idea to name two waypoints on the SERFR STAR both NARWL (gnarl) and NRRLI (gnarly).
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.