Regional Jet 900 (CRJ900)
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 0.5
Communication Breakdown; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew FLC Overrode Automation; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Airspace Structure; Chart Or Publication; Procedure; Aircraft
This is a recurring problem. When departing Manchester on the PPORT1 SID; NELIE transition; certain aircraft will fly the route until hitting the PPORT fix. At this point the FMS will kick out the rest of the departure and will navigate direct NELIE. This is an extremely dangerous situation as PPORT direct NELIE puts these flights in direct conflict with Boston departures on the HYLND4 SID and BOS arrivals on the QUABN3 STAR. The PPORT1 is designed to purposefully de-conflict these routes; having an aircraft not fly the full route can result in confliction with multiple other flights controlled by other sectors. In this case the pilot told me what had happened and that the plane was turning towards NELIE. I put him on a 200 heading to keep him away from the Boston departures until he was able to rejoin the SID at JJIMY. In the past; pilots were unaware of what happened and continued towards NELIE without notifying ATC. Fortunately with winter traffic volume we are able to notice the deviation fairly quickly; however; with heavier summer volume we may not notice the problem until two aircraft are already in confliction.
ZBW ARTCC Controller reports of recurring aircraft deviations while on the Manchester PPORT1 SID. Reportedly; the procedure is being programmed wrong in the FMS software.