Two aircraft with callsigns Cair035 and Cair3365 departed from the same airfield on similar initial tracks within a few minutes of each other. The potential for callsign confusion (same prefix, two digits in each suffix the same) was apparently not detected by the airline callsign deconfliction programme nor was it noticed by the controllers or the pilots of either aircraft.
The request from Cair035 for further climb was corrupt and the call sign was unclear. The DEP controller was expecting a climb request from Cair3365 and so assumed the call was from that aircraft and issued it with a clearance to climb to FL200 without first checking the call sign.
The pilots of Cair035 were expecting further climb clearance and accepted the clearance as being intended for them.
The DEP controller did not detect the error on readback. The fact that the pilot of Cair035 abbreviated his callsign at 1205.16 may have contributed to this error.
The pilot of Cair035 received a TCAS “climb” RA and reported to ATC that he was following it however he apparently continued to descend in accordance with ATC avoiding instructions.
LOSS OF SEPARATION – From several safety occurrences we recommend: