A widebody transport air carrier crew misread their predep clearance and flew the wrong path.

Attributes
ACN	243160
Time
Date	199306
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : sea
State Reference	WA
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zse
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Widebody, Low Wing, 3 Turbojet Eng
Flight Phase	cruise other ground : preflight
Route In Use	departure other departure sid : sid
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 210 flight time total : 18000 flight time type : 3100
ASRS Report	243160
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : clearance non adherence : published procedure other anomaly other other spatial deviation
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	flight crew : became reoriented flight crew : returned to intended course or assigned course other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation
Situations
ATC Facility	procedure or policy : unspecified

Narrative:

ATC clearance sea-ord was received via ACARS. First officer and I reviewed it on the ACARS screen. It was on 2 pages because of its length. So was outside and, since our printer is at aft edge of so panel and 2 mechanics were in cockpit at the time, we did not get our printed copy of the pre-departure clearance. Both the first officer and I missed the line containing the changes to our filed route, possibly because of changing the screen from page 1 to page 2. By reading the last 2 lines which are merely a reprint of our filed routing, we agreed that we were cleared to ord as filed. En route, when we failed to turn on J90 towards mwh, ZSE questioned our routing and we responded that we were cleared via J70 mlp, not J90. Center then gave us a vector to dpr. This type of mistake could be prevented by changing the format of the pre-departure clearance. We don't need to have our filed route reprinted since we have that on our flight plan. What we do need is to have our cleared routing, including any changes to the filed routing, written our so we can read out clearance without having to splice in changes written separately on another line. My suggested format for this particular clearance is written below. Sea-J90 mwh mlp - J136./.ord.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A WDB ACR CREW MISREAD THEIR PREDEP CLRNC AND FLEW THE WRONG PATH.

Narrative: ATC CLRNC SEA-ORD WAS RECEIVED VIA ACARS. FO AND I REVIEWED IT ON THE ACARS SCREEN. IT WAS ON 2 PAGES BECAUSE OF ITS LENGTH. SO WAS OUTSIDE AND, SINCE OUR PRINTER IS AT AFT EDGE OF SO PANEL AND 2 MECHS WERE IN COCKPIT AT THE TIME, WE DID NOT GET OUR PRINTED COPY OF THE PRE-DEP CLRNC. BOTH THE FO AND I MISSED THE LINE CONTAINING THE CHANGES TO OUR FILED RTE, POSSIBLY BECAUSE OF CHANGING THE SCREEN FROM PAGE 1 TO PAGE 2. BY READING THE LAST 2 LINES WHICH ARE MERELY A REPRINT OF OUR FILED ROUTING, WE AGREED THAT WE WERE CLRED TO ORD AS FILED. ENRTE, WHEN WE FAILED TO TURN ON J90 TOWARDS MWH, ZSE QUESTIONED OUR ROUTING AND WE RESPONDED THAT WE WERE CLRED VIA J70 MLP, NOT J90. CTR THEN GAVE US A VECTOR TO DPR. THIS TYPE OF MISTAKE COULD BE PREVENTED BY CHANGING THE FORMAT OF THE PRE-DEP CLRNC. WE DON'T NEED TO HAVE OUR FILED RTE REPRINTED SINCE WE HAVE THAT ON OUR FLT PLAN. WHAT WE DO NEED IS TO HAVE OUR CLRED ROUTING, INCLUDING ANY CHANGES TO THE FILED ROUTING, WRITTEN OUR SO WE CAN READ OUT CLRNC WITHOUT HAVING TO SPLICE IN CHANGES WRITTEN SEPARATELY ON ANOTHER LINE. MY SUGGESTED FORMAT FOR THIS PARTICULAR CLRNC IS WRITTEN BELOW. SEA-J90 MWH MLP - J136./.ORD.

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.