Narrative:

We received our oceanic clearance on the ground at shannon. The fixes in question were read to us as 53N 040W, 52N 050W, potty. The captain understood and copied the entire clearance, but I missed part of it, so we had the controller repeat the clearance. On the second reading, I understood and copied the entire clearance -- the controller even spelled potty phonetically on the second reading. The captain read the clearance back and the controller made no corrections to the readback. After passing 53N 040W, gander called us and asked to verify our routing, so we read them our clearance we received form shannon. After we were called by gander a second time, it became clear that prestwick thought our clearance had been 53N 040W, 53N 050W, st. Anthony. In retrospect, at that point, we should have requested a new clearance, but since three of us; the captain, the relief pilot, and I heard the clearance twice and two of us wrote it down, I was under the impression gander was checking with shannon and would clarify the misunderstanding. After our position report at 52N 050W, we were informed that prestwick was filing the paperwork for a gross navigation error. This was clearly a cost of human error and I'm confident that the error that started the misunderstanding was not by the flight crew. Not knowing where the mistake occurred makes it difficult to suggest a remedy. Hopefully, by the time this report is recorded, the tapes at shannon have been checked and the breakdown in the chain of communication between the controlling agencies involved has been identified.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLT CREW OF B752 AND OCEANIC CTL DISPUTE CLRED RTE BTWN EINN AND BGR. CONFLICT NEVER RESOLVED AND FLT CONTINUED VIA ORIGINAL CLRNC. GROSS NAV ERROR VIOLATION FILED.

Narrative: WE RECEIVED OUR OCEANIC CLRNC ON THE GND AT SHANNON. THE FIXES IN QUESTION WERE READ TO US AS 53N 040W, 52N 050W, POTTY. THE CAPT UNDERSTOOD AND COPIED THE ENTIRE CLRNC, BUT I MISSED PART OF IT, SO WE HAD THE CTLR REPEAT THE CLRNC. ON THE SECOND READING, I UNDERSTOOD AND COPIED THE ENTIRE CLRNC -- THE CTLR EVEN SPELLED POTTY PHONETICALLY ON THE SECOND READING. THE CAPT READ THE CLRNC BACK AND THE CTLR MADE NO CORRECTIONS TO THE READBACK. AFTER PASSING 53N 040W, GANDER CALLED US AND ASKED TO VERIFY OUR ROUTING, SO WE READ THEM OUR CLRNC WE RECEIVED FORM SHANNON. AFTER WE WERE CALLED BY GANDER A SECOND TIME, IT BECAME CLR THAT PRESTWICK THOUGHT OUR CLRNC HAD BEEN 53N 040W, 53N 050W, ST. ANTHONY. IN RETROSPECT, AT THAT POINT, WE SHOULD HAVE REQUESTED A NEW CLRNC, BUT SINCE THREE OF US; THE CAPT, THE RELIEF PLT, AND I HEARD THE CLRNC TWICE AND TWO OF US WROTE IT DOWN, I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION GANDER WAS CHKING WITH SHANNON AND WOULD CLARIFY THE MISUNDERSTANDING. AFTER OUR POS REPORT AT 52N 050W, WE WERE INFORMED THAT PRESTWICK WAS FILING THE PAPERWORK FOR A GROSS NAV ERROR. THIS WAS CLEARLY A COST OF HUMAN ERROR AND I'M CONFIDENT THAT THE ERROR THAT STARTED THE MISUNDERSTANDING WAS NOT BY THE FLT CREW. NOT KNOWING WHERE THE MISTAKE OCCURRED MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO SUGGEST A REMEDY. HOPEFULLY, BY THE TIME THIS RPT IS RECORDED, THE TAPES AT SHANNON HAVE BEEN CHKED AND THE BREAKDOWN IN THE CHAIN OF COM BETWEEN THE CONTROLLING AGENCIES INVOLVED HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED.

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.