Narrative:

This was a flight from hong kong to tokyo-narita international airport. The flight was cleared from hkg-A1-venus direct, rjar (narita). FL370. During our arrival we were communicating with company via ACARS. Arriving in the tokyo we were cleared to venus intersection and descend from FL370 to 10000 ft with crossing restrictions, and given a STAR routing for runway 16 ILS. After passing venus intersection we were flying the venus north STAR which we thought we had been assigned. Just north of venus intersection we were asked our heading. I told them we were flying the venus north arrival and were informed we were to fly the cosmo north arrival. I questioned approach control, thinking we had been cleared via the venus arrival. Tyo approach control advised us we were wrong. We said sorry for the misunderstanding and were vectored to OM. We had received our ATIS early on and had been contemplating which arrival we would be using. We either misunderstood our clearance or were in fact given a venus north arrival as the cosmos arrival took us inbound on the runway 16 departure route. Contributory factors: too many ACARS messages being sent and received from company, coordinating passenger connections and other flight arrival and departure information. Language barriers. Trying to second guess what approach control is doing. Corrective action: confirm all clrncs no matter how difficult the language problem. No ACARS, etc, after top of descent, on 2 person crews.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR FLIES WRONG ARR RTE INTO NRT. CONFUSION OVER WHICH RTE ASSIGNED DUE TO LANGUAGE BARRIER.

Narrative: THIS WAS A FLT FROM HONG KONG TO TOKYO-NARITA INTL ARPT. THE FLT WAS CLRED FROM HKG-A1-VENUS DIRECT, RJAR (NARITA). FL370. DURING OUR ARR WE WERE COMMUNICATING WITH COMPANY VIA ACARS. ARRIVING IN THE TOKYO WE WERE CLRED TO VENUS INTXN AND DSND FROM FL370 TO 10000 FT WITH XING RESTRICTIONS, AND GIVEN A STAR ROUTING FOR RWY 16 ILS. AFTER PASSING VENUS INTXN WE WERE FLYING THE VENUS N STAR WHICH WE THOUGHT WE HAD BEEN ASSIGNED. JUST N OF VENUS INTXN WE WERE ASKED OUR HDG. I TOLD THEM WE WERE FLYING THE VENUS N ARR AND WERE INFORMED WE WERE TO FLY THE COSMO N ARR. I QUESTIONED APCH CTL, THINKING WE HAD BEEN CLRED VIA THE VENUS ARR. TYO APCH CTL ADVISED US WE WERE WRONG. WE SAID SORRY FOR THE MISUNDERSTANDING AND WERE VECTORED TO OM. WE HAD RECEIVED OUR ATIS EARLY ON AND HAD BEEN CONTEMPLATING WHICH ARR WE WOULD BE USING. WE EITHER MISUNDERSTOOD OUR CLRNC OR WERE IN FACT GIVEN A VENUS N ARR AS THE COSMOS ARR TOOK US INBOUND ON THE RWY 16 DEP RTE. CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS: TOO MANY ACARS MESSAGES BEING SENT AND RECEIVED FROM COMPANY, COORDINATING PAX CONNECTIONS AND OTHER FLT ARR AND DEP INFO. LANGUAGE BARRIERS. TRYING TO SECOND GUESS WHAT APCH CTL IS DOING. CORRECTIVE ACTION: CONFIRM ALL CLRNCS NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT THE LANGUAGE PROBLEM. NO ACARS, ETC, AFTER TOP OF DSCNT, ON 2 PERSON CREWS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.