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First officer reported impending conflict due to ATC clearance issued in error; which was attributed to similar call signs and congested airspace.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1699719 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201911 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | LGA.Airport |
| State Reference | NY |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Regional Jet CL65 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Boeing Company Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
ATC mixed up an instruction meant for a company aircraft with a similar call-sign and gave it to us; descend 4;000' [from 7;000']. Captain read back the instructions correctly. They quickly gave us a climb back up to 7;000'. I was adjusting the V/south (autopilot was on) to a climb; but captain suggested I hand fly back to 7;000' to expedite the climb; as a B737 departing newark was quickly approaching. I did just that and climbed back up to 7;000'. Captain challenged the controller at a later time but he was brushed off. He later called the TRACON on the ground and cleared up that it was ATC error and not our error. It was a very busy time for the TRACON and ATC instructions were rapid with few to no pause in between transmissions.avoid using nearly identical flight numbers in highly congested airspace.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: First Officer reported impending conflict due to ATC clearance issued in error; which was attributed to similar call signs and congested airspace.
Narrative: ATC mixed up an instruction meant for a company aircraft with a similar call-sign and gave it to us; descend 4;000' [from 7;000']. Captain read back the instructions correctly. They quickly gave us a climb back up to 7;000'. I was adjusting the V/S (autopilot was on) to a climb; but Captain suggested I hand fly back to 7;000' to expedite the climb; as a B737 departing Newark was quickly approaching. I did just that and climbed back up to 7;000'. Captain challenged the controller at a later time but he was brushed off. He later called the TRACON on the ground and cleared up that it was ATC error and not our error. It was a very busy time for the TRACON and ATC instructions were rapid with few to no pause in between transmissions.Avoid using nearly identical flight numbers in highly congested airspace.
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.