MD83 flight crew has track and heading deviation during civet arrival to lax.

Attributes
ACN	717286
Time
Date	200611
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	intersection : krain
State Reference	CA
Altitude	msl single value : 10000
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : sct.tracon
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-83
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Route In Use	arrival star : civet5
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
ASRS Report	717286
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : clearance other spatial deviation
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	controller : issued alert flight crew : became reoriented
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Human Performance Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Ambiguous

Narrative:

On civet arrival; we were told that all arrs were changing from runway 25R to runway 24R. ATC thought that we had already been told. Neither pilot believed that we had been so advised. There had been no distrs in the cockpit. The transition to runway 24R was uneventful. On a related note; with the closure of runway 25L; ATC is issuing many late runway changes. This is requiring heads down reprogramming at low altitudes.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD83 FLT CREW HAS TRACK AND HDG DEV DURING CIVET ARR TO LAX.

Narrative: ON CIVET ARR; WE WERE TOLD THAT ALL ARRS WERE CHANGING FROM RWY 25R TO RWY 24R. ATC THOUGHT THAT WE HAD ALREADY BEEN TOLD. NEITHER PLT BELIEVED THAT WE HAD BEEN SO ADVISED. THERE HAD BEEN NO DISTRS IN THE COCKPIT. THE TRANSITION TO RWY 24R WAS UNEVENTFUL. ON A RELATED NOTE; WITH THE CLOSURE OF RWY 25L; ATC IS ISSUING MANY LATE RWY CHANGES. THIS IS REQUIRING HEADS DOWN REPROGRAMMING AT LOW ALTS.

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.