Narrative:

First officer contacted clearance and received what was a little different departure for this airport. We were given runway heading to 11 DME then right turn to intercept the 145 degree radial off the VOR and a climb to a lower altitude than normal, 6000 ft. The first officer repeated the clearance since it was not our filed and did not include the normal SID for this airport. After takeoff we flew the clearance, as copied and when we contacted departure, they seemed a little surprised we were turning right. Departure did seem to have radar problems as they had us identify twice and were asking for altitudes. There initially was a problem getting a clearance because the #1 radio antenna was apparently being blocked by the aircraft fuselage. We switched to the #2 radio and everything worked fine then. Both pilots listened to the clearance as is company policy. 1) it seems to me if we copied the turn wrong the clearance controller should have corrected us when we read it back to her. 2) secondly, it seems if we started a turn in the wrong direction the departure controller should have turned us in the correct direction. 3) since this was not a normal departure from this airport the turn to intercept the radial should have been to a specific heading which would have avoided the possibility of any mistakes.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN MD80 FLT CREW MISUNDERSTANDS DEP CLRNC. THE DEP CTLR HAS TO INTERVENE TO CORRECT THE FLT CREW.

Narrative: FO CONTACTED CLRNC AND RECEIVED WHAT WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT DEP FOR THIS ARPT. WE WERE GIVEN RWY HEADING TO 11 DME THEN R TURN TO INTERCEPT THE 145 DEG RADIAL OFF THE VOR AND A CLB TO A LOWER ALT THAN NORMAL, 6000 FT. THE FO REPEATED THE CLRNC SINCE IT WAS NOT OUR FILED AND DID NOT INCLUDE THE NORMAL SID FOR THIS ARPT. AFTER TKOF WE FLEW THE CLRNC, AS COPIED AND WHEN WE CONTACTED DEP, THEY SEEMED A LITTLE SURPRISED WE WERE TURNING R. DEP DID SEEM TO HAVE RADAR PROBS AS THEY HAD US IDENT TWICE AND WERE ASKING FOR ALTS. THERE INITIALLY WAS A PROB GETTING A CLRNC BECAUSE THE #1 RADIO ANTENNA WAS APPARENTLY BEING BLOCKED BY THE ACFT FUSELAGE. WE SWITCHED TO THE #2 RADIO AND EVERYTHING WORKED FINE THEN. BOTH PLTS LISTENED TO THE CLRNC AS IS COMPANY POLICY. 1) IT SEEMS TO ME IF WE COPIED THE TURN WRONG THE CLRNC CTLR SHOULD HAVE CORRECTED US WHEN WE READ IT BACK TO HER. 2) SECONDLY, IT SEEMS IF WE STARTED A TURN IN THE WRONG DIRECTION THE DEP CTLR SHOULD HAVE TURNED US IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION. 3) SINCE THIS WAS NOT A NORMAL DEP FROM THIS ARPT THE TURN TO INTERCEPT THE RADIAL SHOULD HAVE BEEN TO A SPECIFIC HEADING WHICH WOULD HAVE AVOIDED THE POSSIBILITY OF ANY MISTAKES.

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.