A319 flight crew and the controller involved describe a misunderstanding of a crossing restriction a...

Narrative:

I was working R76 as the radar and issued the A319 at FL380 a clearance direct filbe and cross 20 miles north of filbe at FL360. The pilot read back all of it and then stopped and said repeat the altitude. So I reissued the whole clearance again very slowly. The pilot read back the entire clearance with his call sign with the correct altitude of FL360. However 5 mins later a B737 level at FL350 was converging within 3-5 miles with the A319. A merging target call was not required based on the targets. So the A319 vacated FL380 to meet his crossing restriction. He continued descending beyond FL360 and the next controller questioned the pilot and he stated he had worked it out with me and that I had given him FL260. But this is incorrect as I reviewed the audio tapes. The relieving controller amended the altitude to FL340 and coordinated with R58 st. Augustine. The loss of separation was 4.9 miles and 600 feet. This was a pilot deviation. No further issues occurred.the relieving controller could have issued a merging target call even though the targets did not merge. But an added safety net when aircraft are within 3-5 miles and descending or climbing is a good practice.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 flight crew and the Controller involved describe a misunderstanding of a crossing restriction assignment; even after the controller repeated it twice.

Narrative: I was working R76 as the Radar and issued the A319 at FL380 a clearance direct FILBE and cross 20 miles north of FILBE at FL360. The pilot read back all of it and then stopped and said repeat the altitude. So I reissued the whole clearance again very slowly. The pilot read back the entire clearance with his call sign with the correct altitude of FL360. However 5 mins later a B737 level at FL350 was converging within 3-5 miles with the A319. A merging target call was not required based on the targets. So the A319 vacated FL380 to meet his crossing restriction. He continued descending beyond FL360 and the next controller questioned the pilot and he stated he had worked it out with me and that I had given him FL260. But this is incorrect as I reviewed the audio tapes. The relieving controller amended the altitude to FL340 and coordinated with R58 St. Augustine. The Loss of Separation was 4.9 miles and 600 feet. This was a pilot deviation. No further issues occurred.The relieving controller could have issued a merging target call even though the targets did not merge. But an added safety net when aircraft are within 3-5 miles and descending or climbing is a good practice.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1300004
Time
Date	201510
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZJX.ARTCC
State Reference	FL
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR FRWAY5
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance

A319 flight crew and the controller involved describe a misunderstanding of a crossing restriction assignment; even after the controller repeated it twice.