Altitude crossing restr -- the flight crew misunderstood the name of the crossing restr intersection and successfully crossed the wrong later point.

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Attributes
ACN	307122
Time
Date	199506
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : iah airport : hou
State Reference	TX
Altitude	msl bound lower : 10000 msl bound upper : 14000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : iah tower : pit
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent other
Route In Use	arrival other arrival star : star
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 5000 flight time type : 200
ASRS Report	307122
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : flight engineer pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 10300 flight time type : 800
ASRS Report	307129
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : crossing restriction not met altitude deviation : undershoot non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Batsn arrival into houston hobby. Cleared to cross bumby intersection at 10000 ft. I thought the clearance was to cross genbe intersection at 10000 ft. Bumby is 40 DME, genbe is 23. The confusion was due in part to similar sounding intersection names. I crossed bumby at approximately 14000 ft. Approaching genbe, approach asked us what our clearance was. This was when we discovered the mistake. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following: the reporter was flying a B737-200 and both he and the captain thought that they understood the approach controller. The intxns on this section of the STAR do sound similar, however. With bumby, genbe and kaney all in a row an accent or mild radio interference may lead to the wrong conclusion. In this case, both of these confusion factors were present. The reporter feels that similar sounding intxns are a problem everywhere and that we will have to use letters and numbers or a screen printout in the near future to eliminate such problems.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ALT XING RESTR -- THE FLC MISUNDERSTOOD THE NAME OF THE XING RESTR INTXN AND SUCCESSFULLY CROSSED THE WRONG LATER POINT.

Narrative: BATSN ARR INTO HOUSTON HOBBY. CLRED TO CROSS BUMBY INTXN AT 10000 FT. I THOUGHT THE CLRNC WAS TO CROSS GENBE INTXN AT 10000 FT. BUMBY IS 40 DME, GENBE IS 23. THE CONFUSION WAS DUE IN PART TO SIMILAR SOUNDING INTXN NAMES. I CROSSED BUMBY AT APPROX 14000 FT. APCHING GENBE, APCH ASKED US WHAT OUR CLRNC WAS. THIS WAS WHEN WE DISCOVERED THE MISTAKE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH REPORTER REVEALED THE FOLLOWING: THE RPTR WAS FLYING A B737-200 AND BOTH HE AND THE CAPT THOUGHT THAT THEY UNDERSTOOD THE APCH CTLR. THE INTXNS ON THIS SECTION OF THE STAR DO SOUND SIMILAR, HOWEVER. WITH BUMBY, GENBE AND KANEY ALL IN A ROW AN ACCENT OR MILD RADIO INTERFERENCE MAY LEAD TO THE WRONG CONCLUSION. IN THIS CASE, BOTH OF THESE CONFUSION FACTORS WERE PRESENT. THE RPTR FEELS THAT SIMILAR SOUNDING INTXNS ARE A PROB EVERYWHERE AND THAT WE WILL HAVE TO USE LETTERS AND NUMBERS OR A SCREEN PRINTOUT IN THE NEAR FUTURE TO ELIMINATE SUCH PROBS.

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.