A319
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 68; Flight Crew Total 6500
Time Pressure; Situational Awareness; Human-Machine Interface
Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Procedure; Human Factors
This flight was the second flight of the day and the third day of a four-day trip. In preparation for multiple runway takeoff options from DEN; we loaded the flight plan into the FMGC with our expected runway (Runway 08) and then loaded the secondary flight plan with our alternate runway (Runway 34R) with the plan of just activating the secondary flight plan if we did not receive our primary runway because there would be a very short taxi to [Runway] 34R. We had filed the EEONS3 SID. Our PDC was not available; so we had to contact Clearance Delivery for clearance and were given the EMMYS3 SID in the re-route. We loaded the change into the primary flight plan but failed to change the secondary. Had we taken off on Runway 08; this mistake would have had no consequence; but after pushback we were told to expect Runway 34R. In haste; we activated the secondary flight plan. Along with slightly similar names of the SIDs and the fact that we were initially expecting the EEONS3; the first few points were identical on both SIDs so it was not initially obvious there was a problem with our loaded flight plan. This technique was new to me and I did not fully think through the consequences should we actually use it. Shortly after takeoff; we were cleared to climb via the EMMYS3 SID. While not a surprise; this was the first time that I had flown a climb via clearance that had altitude constraints. This caused me to be preoccupied with meeting altitude constraints and to miss the fact that after point HIDEF we were headed towards SHOBO instead of BRSTO; 20 degrees off course. Approximately 7-8 miles beyond HIDEF; we were notified by Denver Approach of our deviation and given a heading to correct. After being notified of the deviation; we immediately understood the error that occurred; corrected the FMGC and ensured the remainder of the flight plan was correct.
We manually had to receive our clearance from Clearance Delivery. We were given the EMMYS3 RNAV Departure. We had preloaded the EEONS3 RNAV Departure Runway 8 as per our flight plan. We also preloaded the EEONS3 Runway 34 in the secondary. We still expected Runway 8 for departure and loaded the EMMYS3 in the primary flight plan in the FMGC. I saw the First Officer load and check the EMMYS3 in the primary and checked his work. On pushback we were told to expect Runway 34R on departure. We activated the secondary flight plan then got busy with checklists and checking weights and taxiing. The first speed constraint as well as the first two or three points on the EEONS3 Departure is the same as the EMMYS3 departure. Our data base mistake was not realized until ATC saw we were flying to point SHOBO on the EEONS3 vs. BRSTO on the EMMYS3. Because the first points were the same we missed our mistake and flew the wrong departure.
A319 flight crew describes the circumstances leading up to selecting the wrong SID for a departure from DEN.