Narrative:

The neighboring center called for a hand off. There was a VFR aircraft flashing at us that was close to the boundary; so I picked up the line and said radar. He didn't give a call sign in the coordination. The radar pulled up a target that was in on the boundary; and it was flashing to sector 21. The radar /ok the data block; and the aircraft checked on. The radar flashed the aircraft to 86; looking for higher. Sector 86 dialed in and said there was no flight plan information; just as we had made the discovery there was no flight plan information stored in the NAS. Point out was made to T45 with an explanation that it would be a few minutes before he would climb; we were trying to get flight plan information put in. The aircraft had reached FL230; and was requesting FL280. I unplugged from the d-side; plugged into the sector 84 d-side; and passed flight plan information to the T43 sector so we could get the aircraft climbing. I recommend that when calling a sector for a hand off; you use the call sign for identification. I realize I could have asked who; however coincidentally there was a VFR aircraft flashing to us 2 minutes from the boundary; and I assumed it was that aircraft. I also recommend that when initiating a hand off; address it to the correct sector; and don't wait until the aircraft is 30 seconds from receiving controller's airspace before coordination.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Enroute D-Side Controller described a confused hand off event when accepting RADAR on a VFR target when in fact the hand off involved an IFR aircraft requesting climb; the event resulting in an airspace incursion.

Narrative: The neighboring Center called for a hand off. There was a VFR aircraft flashing at us that was close to the boundary; so I picked up the line and said RADAR. He didn't give a call sign in the coordination. The RADAR pulled up a target that was in on the boundary; and it was flashing to Sector 21. The RADAR /ok the Data Block; and the aircraft checked on. The RADAR flashed the aircraft to 86; looking for higher. Sector 86 dialed in and said there was no flight plan information; just as we had made the discovery there was no flight plan information stored in the NAS. Point out was made to T45 with an explanation that it would be a few minutes before he would climb; we were trying to get flight plan information put in. The aircraft had reached FL230; and was requesting FL280. I unplugged from the D-Side; plugged into the Sector 84 D-Side; and passed flight plan information to the T43 Sector so we could get the aircraft climbing. I recommend that when calling a sector for a hand off; you use the call sign for identification. I realize I could have asked who; however coincidentally there was a VFR aircraft flashing to us 2 minutes from the boundary; and I assumed it was that aircraft. I also recommend that when initiating a hand off; address it to the correct sector; and don't wait until the aircraft is 30 seconds from receiving controller's airspace before coordination.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.