Narrative:

I was PF [pilot flying] about to join the FLOSI3 STAR into ewr. I recall verifying the clearance to cross 30NM north of alb at FL240. I recall checking the FMC as the ca [captain] set the fix into the FMC for me and I recall pointing my finger at FL240 in the FMC. Passing through about FL255 on VNAV was when ATC told us about crossing traffic below and ahead. I saw this traffic on TCAS as -12 in white and around 10 o'clock position. I then commenced scanning the area where I thought the traffic would be. It was hazy so I never did see the traffic. Beyond that I saw no impending threat from the traffic. Then I heard the ca state he had control and there was the brief sound of the automation being turned off and the plane went into the climb up to around FL265 and I saw the airspeed decreasing. I wasn't sure what was going on because there was no sound of a TA/RA. For a brief moment I thought the ca saw something like dramatic like a near mid-air or extreme proximity to traffic. In reality that wasn't the case. Once I settled into the situation that was occurring around me; I queried the ca about what he was acting on. He expressed concern we had busted our altitude limit of FL260 and we had an impending conflict with the aircraft in TCAS. Then I called bos center to verify our last clearance to last clearance to cross 30N of alb at F240. Boston center confirmed that was still the case and then they asked us if we would still the make the clearance. We said unable and bos center said that okay. At this point the ca handed me over the aircraft as PF and to regain better sa I just went with flch [flight level change] to do our best to try to go with the crossing restriction. After matters slowed down; the ca explained he acted in haste based on his concern the traffic was exceptionally close to us. This he pointed out was due to his nd [navigation director] being on the expanded range and thus the target even though it never moved to TA status appeared artificially quite close. He also stated he intervened on taking over as PF because he started to doubt our clearance altitude thinking we had been cleared merely to FL260. We discussed the course of events that transpired and he apologized for taking over controls abruptly and he stated the events as he saw it. I kept flying the arrival to ewr. On the gate the three of us debriefed the event and lessons we took away from it.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier flight crew reported miscommunication among themselves/ATC resulting in the Captain (PM) mistakenly taking control of the aircraft.

Narrative: I was PF [Pilot Flying] about to join the FLOSI3 STAR into EWR. I recall verifying the clearance to cross 30NM North of ALB at FL240. I recall checking the FMC as the CA [Captain] set the fix into the FMC for me and I recall pointing my finger at FL240 in the FMC. Passing through about FL255 on VNAV was when ATC told us about crossing traffic below and ahead. I saw this traffic on TCAS as -12 in white and around 10 o'clock position. I then commenced scanning the area where I thought the traffic would be. It was hazy so I never did see the traffic. Beyond that I saw no impending threat from the traffic. Then I heard the CA state he had control and there was the brief sound of the automation being turned off and the plane went into the climb up to around FL265 and I saw the airspeed decreasing. I wasn't sure what was going on because there was no sound of a TA/RA. For a brief moment I thought the CA saw something like dramatic like a near mid-air or extreme proximity to traffic. In reality that wasn't the case. Once I settled into the situation that was occurring around me; I queried the CA about what he was acting on. He expressed concern we had busted our altitude limit of FL260 and we had an impending conflict with the aircraft in TCAS. Then I called BOS Center to verify our last clearance to last clearance to cross 30N of ALB at F240. Boston Center confirmed that was still the case and then they asked us if we would still the make the clearance. We said unable and BOS Center said that okay. At this point the CA handed me over the aircraft as PF and to regain better SA I just went with FLCH [Flight Level Change] to do our best to try to go with the crossing restriction. After matters slowed down; the CA explained he acted in haste based on his concern the traffic was exceptionally close to us. This he pointed out was due to his ND [NAV Director] being on the expanded range and thus the target even though it never moved to TA status appeared artificially quite close. He also stated he intervened on taking over as PF because he started to doubt our clearance altitude thinking we had been cleared merely to FL260. We discussed the course of events that transpired and he apologized for taking over controls abruptly and he stated the events as he saw it. I kept flying the arrival to EWR. On the gate the three of us debriefed the event and lessons we took away from it.

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.