Narrative:

On departure from iad, tower told us to switch to departure control. The captain reported 'out of 1000 ft for 2000 ft.' departure, without identing itself, rogered and said, 'maintain assigned altitude' and continued to work other traffic in the area. We continued to 2000 ft and runway heading for several mins until we were approaching the martinsberg air traffic area. About this time, I told the captain that I thought departure control had forgotten us. He called departure again who sounded surprised and confused to hear our call sign, asked our position, then directed us to call ZDC. Checking the departure frequency closely, we discovered that we were on 125.65, washington national departure, when we were assigned 126.65, dulles departure. The small print out of the ACARS clearance and a dark, dimly lighted cockpit added up to a misread of the frequency and I dialed it in one digit off. Washington departure added to the confusion by not identing itself, telling us to maintain assigned, and the local familiarity of the fixes he was assigning to other traffic in the area.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR WDB CREW INADVERTENTLY CALLED DCA DEP WHEN IT WANTED IAD DEP.

Narrative: ON DEP FROM IAD, TWR TOLD US TO SWITCH TO DEP CTL. THE CAPT RPTED 'OUT OF 1000 FT FOR 2000 FT.' DEP, WITHOUT IDENTING ITSELF, ROGERED AND SAID, 'MAINTAIN ASSIGNED ALT' AND CONTINUED TO WORK OTHER TFC IN THE AREA. WE CONTINUED TO 2000 FT AND RWY HDG FOR SEVERAL MINS UNTIL WE WERE APCHING THE MARTINSBERG ATA. ABOUT THIS TIME, I TOLD THE CAPT THAT I THOUGHT DEP CTL HAD FORGOTTEN US. HE CALLED DEP AGAIN WHO SOUNDED SURPRISED AND CONFUSED TO HEAR OUR CALL SIGN, ASKED OUR POS, THEN DIRECTED US TO CALL ZDC. CHKING THE DEP FREQ CLOSELY, WE DISCOVERED THAT WE WERE ON 125.65, WASHINGTON NATIONAL DEP, WHEN WE WERE ASSIGNED 126.65, DULLES DEP. THE SMALL PRINT OUT OF THE ACARS CLRNC AND A DARK, DIMLY LIGHTED COCKPIT ADDED UP TO A MISREAD OF THE FREQ AND I DIALED IT IN ONE DIGIT OFF. WASHINGTON DEP ADDED TO THE CONFUSION BY NOT IDENTING ITSELF, TELLING US TO MAINTAIN ASSIGNED, AND THE LCL FAMILIARITY OF THE FIXES HE WAS ASSIGNING TO OTHER TFC IN THE AREA.

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.