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B737 captain reported confusion about their speed assignment due to the controller using incorrect phraseology.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1353167 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201605 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | RDU.Airport |
| State Reference | NC |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | STAR ALDAN1 |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 25000 Flight Crew Type 15000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
It was the second time in a row that I have had a problem with ATC terminology while descending via the aldan 1 arrival into krdu; but I will just stick to today's event. When north of sbv we were cleared to descend via the aldan 1 arrival with a speed assignment. At some point; washington center said 'resume normal speed.' this is an ambiguous clearance...does it mean 'delete speed restrictions' or 'comply with published speeds?'I possess an FAA document titled 'climb via/descend via speed clearances faqs' from which I quote the last page...21Q 'the controller had issued a speed for me to maintain. Later; the controller says 'resume normal speed'. Can I fly a speed at my discretion?answer: yes; but a controller can only issue that clearance if you are not on a published portion of a procedure that contains speed restrictions. If there are published speeds; the correct clearance would be 'delete speed restrictions' or 'resume published speed'we asked for which one of these he wanted. He admonished us for not knowing what normal speeds were. We could not obtain clarification from him as he did not seem to understand the ambiguity. We were transferred to approach control; where we had to ask for clarification. He immediately resolved it by giving us a speed and altitude direct to the outer marker. Problem solved.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B737 Captain reported confusion about their speed assignment due to the Controller using incorrect phraseology.
Narrative: It was the second time in a row that I have had a problem with ATC terminology while descending via the ALDAN 1 arrival into KRDU; but I will just stick to today's event. When north of SBV we were cleared to descend via the ALDAN 1 arrival with a speed assignment. At some point; Washington Center said 'resume normal speed.' This is an ambiguous clearance...does it mean 'delete speed restrictions' or 'comply with published speeds?'I possess an FAA document titled 'Climb via/Descend via speed clearances faqs' from which I quote the last page...21Q 'The controller had issued a speed for me to maintain. Later; the controller says 'resume normal speed'. Can I fly a speed at my discretion?Answer: Yes; but a controller can only issue that clearance if you are NOT on a published portion of a procedure that contains speed restrictions. If there are published speeds; the correct clearance would be 'delete speed restrictions' or 'resume published speed'We asked for which one of these he wanted. He admonished us for not knowing what normal speeds were. We could not obtain clarification from him as he did not seem to understand the ambiguity. We were transferred to approach control; where we had to ask for clarification. He immediately resolved it by giving us a speed and altitude direct to the outer marker. Problem solved.
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.