Narrative:

Departing zswx/wux from runway 03 on the EKI11D SID; tower assigned an initial climb to 900m/3;000 feet. In the air were handed over to 'shanghai approach'; which gave us the local altimeter setting (1034 hpa) and instructed us to climb 'via SID' and to climb to 2;700m/8;900 feet. The chart for the EKI11D SID specified a transition altitude of 5;930 feet. As we passed 5;930 feet; the pilot flying and pilot monitoring changed their altimeter to standard and the aircraft leveled-off at the assigned altitude. Shortly after this ATC forcefully told us to stop climb immediately and to turn to a heading to avoid traffic. The controller then again told us that the qnh was 1034 hpa. As 'third pilot' I verified with the conversion chart that we were in fact at the assigned altitude and above the transition level from the SID chart. The captain/pilot monitoring asked that I next check a chart for zspd/pvg for their transition level; which was 10;830 feet. And thus above our current level. Pilot flying and pilot monitoring returned their altimeters to the local setting; which put our plane about 500 feet. Higher than with standard setting. Although we were instructed to follow the zswx/wux SID; ATC in shanghai's airspace expected us to follow the transition altitude as it appears on zspd/pvg charts; not on zswx/wux charts. There was nothing in the jeppesen charts preparing us for this 'trap.' a vague note on company page 10-10 points out that zswx/wux and zspd/pvg are using different transition altitudes; but then says to 'use procedures per ATC and as charted per SID/STAR'; which is what we did. At no point did we have a loss of separation; and the traffic ATC vectored us away from was still 2;000 feet above our altitude; and we were not climbing at that time.zswx/wux does not have a taxiway parallel to the only runway 03/21 suitable for a B747. As we park towards the north end of the airport; the preferred method is to land on '03' and takeoff from '21.' due to traffic and wind we departed '03;' which immediately put us into shanghai's airspace. The standard departure off '21' has a climbing turn back towards the airport and likely avoids our situation by entering shanghai's airspace above either transition altitudes. A note to this regard in the zswx/wux reference pages or sids in the jeppesen app would alert crews to this - easily avoided - problem.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747 flight crew reported critical need of departure warning to flight crews of dissimilar transition levels.

Narrative: Departing ZSWX/WUX from Runway 03 on the EKI11D SID; Tower assigned an initial climb to 900m/3;000 feet. In the air were handed over to 'Shanghai Approach'; which gave us the local altimeter setting (1034 hpa) and instructed us to climb 'via SID' and to climb to 2;700m/8;900 feet. The chart for the EKI11D SID specified a transition altitude of 5;930 feet. As we passed 5;930 feet; the Pilot Flying and Pilot Monitoring changed their altimeter to STD and the aircraft leveled-off at the assigned altitude. Shortly after this ATC forcefully told us to stop climb immediately and to turn to a heading to avoid traffic. The controller then again told us that the QNH was 1034 hpa. As 'Third Pilot' I verified with the conversion chart that we were in fact at the assigned altitude and above the transition level from the SID chart. The Captain/Pilot Monitoring asked that I next check a chart for ZSPD/PVG for their transition level; which was 10;830 feet. and thus above our current level. Pilot Flying and Pilot Monitoring returned their altimeters to the local setting; which put our plane about 500 feet. higher than with STD setting. Although we were instructed to follow the ZSWX/WUX SID; ATC in Shanghai's airspace expected us to follow the transition altitude as it appears on ZSPD/PVG charts; not on ZSWX/WUX charts. There was nothing in the Jeppesen charts preparing us for this 'trap.' A vague note on company page 10-10 points out that ZSWX/WUX and ZSPD/PVG are using different transition altitudes; but then says to 'use procedures per ATC and as charted per SID/STAR'; which is what we did. At no point did we have a loss of separation; and the traffic ATC vectored us away from was still 2;000 feet above our altitude; and we were not climbing at that time.ZSWX/WUX does not have a taxiway parallel to the only Runway 03/21 suitable for a B747. As we park towards the north end of the airport; the preferred method is to land on '03' and takeoff from '21.' Due to traffic and wind we departed '03;' which immediately put us into Shanghai's airspace. The standard departure off '21' has a climbing turn back towards the airport and likely avoids our situation by entering Shanghai's airspace above either transition altitudes. A note to this regard in the ZSWX/WUX REF pages or SIDs in the Jeppesen app would alert crews to this - easily avoided - problem.

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.