ORCKA FIVE departure structure

Captain Steeeve begins with an Iberia 0352 heavy jet departing LAX from runway 24L. He identifies the standard instrument departure as the ORCKA FIVE. The first point is KLIPR, south of the airport. Captain Steeeve reads the chart note that the number 10,000 has a line underneath it, meaning a hard altitude: the aircraft must be at least at 10,000 feet, and it may be higher but not lower. He also mentions DLREY as a point for a 24L departure, where the chart shows 3,000 with a line above it, meaning the aircraft must be at or below that altitude. He says the crew check in and report climbing to 5,000 feet.

Turn confusion and controller correction

Captain Steeeve then focuses on a controller instruction to Iberia 0352. He says the controller gives 'climb via', which he explains as a short way to say climb via the standard instrument departure. The controller also says turn left to KLIPR and climb to maintain 15,000. Captain Steeeve says the crew hear turn right and read back that misunderstanding. He notes that the controller does not correct the readback at that point. He says the controller later gives another altitude instruction and says direct to KLIPR via right, and that the controller does not catch the extra word. Captain Steeeve says the understanding in the cockpit is that they are to turn right to go to KLIPR, although the departure requires a left hand turn. He says the controller quickly sees the right hand turn, does not query it, and gives a heading: 'stop your turn' and 'turn left heading 250'. He says the crew read that back correctly and begin the left turn. He also notes a later exchange where the controller says 'say again' and amends altitude to maintain 12,000.

Phone call and supervisor tape

Captain Steeeve then discusses the phone number given to the crew. He says the crew will make the call when they get back to Spain, at the end of the flight. He says the supervisor will have pulled the tape and listened to everything, so that when the Iberia crew call, the controller can say what he sees happened and ask what the crew heard and responded to. Captain Steeeve says the crew would probably say they thought the controller said turn via right, while the controller can say he listened to the tape and that nobody said turn via right, but that climb via means the standard instrument departure. He says the crew have a long flight back to Spain and probably review the exchange before the call. He says the phone number is given early because passing it through several authority entities to Spain would involve people with different criteria, and the issue is handled at the lowest possible level. He ends by saying the aircraft turned right when it should have turned left in congested LAX airspace, but there was no near midair.