Small Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100; Flight Crew Total 14000; Flight Crew Type 1300
Communication Breakdown; Confusion
Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Procedure; Human Factors
The Hyper 4 arrival was superseded by the Hyper 5 arrival in September 2014. This was the first time I had flown the Hyper 5 since it changed. The Hyper 4 had one sequence of arrival fixes after MULRR. The Hyper 5 has 6 branches of arrivals following MULRR. The Arrival Route Description states that arrivals landing HEF and 9 other area airports (Manassas was my destination) should 'From MULRR on track 230 to CEVEE; then on heading 230; expect radar vectors to final approach course.' I was prepared to fly the arrival as published for HEF. Somewhere prior to MULRR the controller told me to descend and maintain 7000 and proceed directly to what sounded like CEVEE. I read back 'descend and maintain 7000 and direct CEVEE.' There was no correction to my readback from the controller. When near CEVEE the controller asked if I was proceeding to SIGBE. I responded that I was at CEVEE; and asked if he wanted me to go to SIGBE. He said yes and gave me a vector towards SIGBE and then direct TICON. We both agreed that the fix names SIGBE and CEVEE sound too similar to be the first fixes on branches of the same arrival procedure. SIGBE has been the only fix after MULRR for a long time and it appears as though the controllers still mostly use that branch. Expectations of traffic going to all 10 airports other than Washington Dulles (IAD) on this arrival are that they would be going to CEVEE. Recommend changing the name of one of the two intersections to more clearly differentiate between them and avoid future confusion.
A Captain reports two similar sounding fix names used by PCT with the HYPER 5 arrival resulted in a track deviation. The reported fixes are CEEVE and SIGBE.