Narrative:

In cruise approximately 1 hour from our atlantic entry point carpe; the first officer and I requested our crossing clearance via ACARS from gander center. We received it acknowledged it and received a confirmation message. As from europe it did not have the 5 number identify code on it we assumed that gander now had their system up and running and we were done. While looking through the flight plan messages we found a note that we were not supposed to be able to do this on a B767 aircraft as the system wasn't running yet. During this time gander center had cleared us to carpe and asked for our ETA as normal; without prompting as we crossed carpe we tried to call gander clearance to make sure but we were out of range. The flight went normally with us providing position reports to ATC. We are still not sure if we were correct or not as there are many different procedures in the books and paperwork and seem to be changing often. Next time I will confirm with gander justin case. Supplemental information from acn 698992: however; we did receive our clearance via ACARS and by the time we determined a voice acknowledgement was required had already been cleared to our requested altitude and into the system by center and oceanic. Also; there had been no query by either center or oceanic prior to entering the track. Obviously there is going to be some lag time between gander's transition to fully automatic clearance and updated pubs. The confusion came from our aircraft receiving the clearance when the company message on release said it wouldn't. The lesson learned: be more careful reading all paperwork prior to leaving operations and asking questions from controling agencies as soon as confusion arises.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767-300 FLT CREW IS CONCERNED WITH ATLANTIC OCEANIC XING PROCS.

Narrative: IN CRUISE APPROX 1 HR FROM OUR ATLANTIC ENTRY POINT CARPE; THE FO AND I REQUESTED OUR XING CLRNC VIA ACARS FROM GANDER CTR. WE RECEIVED IT ACKNOWLEDGED IT AND RECEIVED A CONFIRMATION MESSAGE. AS FROM EUROPE IT DID NOT HAVE THE 5 NUMBER IDENT CODE ON IT WE ASSUMED THAT GANDER NOW HAD THEIR SYS UP AND RUNNING AND WE WERE DONE. WHILE LOOKING THROUGH THE FLT PLAN MESSAGES WE FOUND A NOTE THAT WE WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS ON A B767 ACFT AS THE SYS WASN'T RUNNING YET. DURING THIS TIME GANDER CTR HAD CLRED US TO CARPE AND ASKED FOR OUR ETA AS NORMAL; WITHOUT PROMPTING AS WE CROSSED CARPE WE TRIED TO CALL GANDER CLRNC TO MAKE SURE BUT WE WERE OUT OF RANGE. THE FLT WENT NORMALLY WITH US PROVIDING POS RPTS TO ATC. WE ARE STILL NOT SURE IF WE WERE CORRECT OR NOT AS THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT PROCS IN THE BOOKS AND PAPERWORK AND SEEM TO BE CHANGING OFTEN. NEXT TIME I WILL CONFIRM WITH GANDER JUSTIN CASE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 698992: HOWEVER; WE DID RECEIVE OUR CLRNC VIA ACARS AND BY THE TIME WE DETERMINED A VOICE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WAS REQUIRED HAD ALREADY BEEN CLRED TO OUR REQUESTED ALT AND INTO THE SYS BY CTR AND OCEANIC. ALSO; THERE HAD BEEN NO QUERY BY EITHER CTR OR OCEANIC PRIOR TO ENTERING THE TRACK. OBVIOUSLY THERE IS GOING TO BE SOME LAG TIME BTWN GANDER'S TRANSITION TO FULLY AUTOMATIC CLRNC AND UPDATED PUBS. THE CONFUSION CAME FROM OUR ACFT RECEIVING THE CLRNC WHEN THE COMPANY MESSAGE ON RELEASE SAID IT WOULDN'T. THE LESSON LEARNED: BE MORE CAREFUL READING ALL PAPERWORK PRIOR TO LEAVING OPS AND ASKING QUESTIONS FROM CTLING AGENCIES AS SOON AS CONFUSION ARISES.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.