Date: 201208
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ATL.Airport, GA
Flight conditions: Marginal
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700)
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Flight phase: Initial Approach
Airspace: Class B ATL
ATC / advisory: Center ZTL
Aircraft component: FMS/FMC
Component problem: Improperly Operated
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Pilot Not Flying; First Officer
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Commercial
Human factors: Distraction; Confusion; Communication Breakdown; Human-Machine Interface; Workload; Situational Awareness
Anomaly: ATC Issue All Types; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Contributing factors: Human Factors; Chart Or Publication; Procedure
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: On the Honie 8 Arrival we were assigned Runway 26R. Center didn't give a transition which leaves the only transition in the FMS as the 26R transition after being assigned the runway. Upon reaching WOLMN Intersection ATC asked if they had given us a transition. We stated that they had not and he proceeded to give us a heading of 095. He wanted us to move to FOGOG Intersection which was not in the FMS as it's not part of the transition for 26R. After accepting the heading of 095 he changed the heading to 040. We turned to heading 040 then I programmed the FMS for Runway 27L to obtain the 27L transition. He then expected us to fly the 27L transition to land Runway 26R. Runway 27L and 28 were both open and available. We descended from 12;000 to 7;000 FT as cleared and landed as [originally] planned on Runway 26R.The main confusion was he changed our heading and took us off the 26R transition which left us confused why he was doing that. We got a heading and no violations of course were done. The Controller seemed confused about what he was doing and didn't seem to know the arrival procedures for the Honie 8 Arrival after being assigned Runway 26R. No incident occurred just a lot of confusion why he was; at the last minute; changing us to a transition for a different runway to still land on our original runway of 26R. ATC making changes to the clearances at the last second for no traffic reason caused a bit of confusion. It also increased our work load greatly last minute to change to heading and program in the FMS to actually find the waypoints he wanted. ATC should have stated they wanted non standard transitions long before WOLMN which is the final fix before you start a transition. We managed the threats well and got them mitigated accordingly. Telling ATC to give us a heading as we weren't ready for his clearance helped reduce the situation greatly and gave us time to catch up. Discuss with ATC the importance of keeping an arrival as its depicted. If you need to make a change assign a heading first then tell the crew of the change you want. We tried to make the changes to the route and heading all at the same time due to his unclear communications. We did make sure to query the Controller several times to get exactly what he wanted which prevented a lateral deviation. If ATC plans to use a south transition for a north runway the FMS needs to be updated to include that as an option. We had to think outside the box to figure out how to get the south transition into the FMS then later execute the north Runway 26R. That's not trained for by the company and it was good we were very familiar with the airport and the FMS.




Synopsis: Confusion reigned when a CRJ flight crew; cleared for ATL's HONIE RNAV STAR; landing Runway 26R; was asked by Approach if they had been given a 'transition' as they approached WOLMN. When they replied they had not been given a 'transition' Approach gave them vectors which the flight crew assumed would result in a landing on the south runway complex but; instead; they were vectored to land 26R.