A B737 flight crew reported they received a TCAS RA after sat TRACON vectored them too closely to pa...

Attributes
ACN	1339612
Time
Date	201603
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	SAT.Airport
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 110
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 144 Flight Crew Type 1600
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude

Narrative:

With sat approach; ATC vectored and descended us to 4;300 feet. We received an RA and complied per [our sops]. ATC said; 'we placed you within 500 feet of the traffic pattern in an effort to get you lower.'getting us to a lower altitude should not be a priority above vectoring us in close proximity to an airport traffic pattern [or] another aircraft. They then attempted to clear us visual out of the RA. I declined; since the assigned altitude was too high and would have not been in the slot. I requested a vector and completed the approach with no issues. Dispatch was contacted per [procedures].I humbly suggest ATC offer a wider box pattern clear of airports with a normal descent rate.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 flight crew reported they received a TCAS RA after SAT TRACON vectored them too closely to pattern altitude.

Narrative: With SAT Approach; ATC vectored and descended us to 4;300 feet. We received an RA and complied per [our SOPs]. ATC said; 'We placed you within 500 feet of the traffic pattern in an effort to get you lower.'Getting us to a lower altitude should not be a priority above vectoring us in close proximity to an airport traffic pattern [or] another aircraft. They then attempted to clear us visual out of the RA. I declined; since the assigned altitude was too high and would have not been in the slot. I requested a vector and completed the approach with no issues. Dispatch was contacted per [procedures].I humbly suggest ATC offer a wider box pattern clear of airports with a normal descent rate.

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.

A B737 flight crew reported they received a TCAS RA after sat TRACON vectored them too closely to pattern altitude.