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Air carrier flight crew reported ATC was difficult to communicate with and suggested that staffing is a contributing factor.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1765370 |
| Time | |
| Date | 202010 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 152 Flight Crew Type 3000 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Clearance Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
ATC held the flight high. Were given clearance to descend to lower altitude. Aircraft was 7;000 feet high on path. Began expedited descent to catch up to path; ATC then gave level off of FL290. Around FL320; pilot flying noticed traffic appear on TCAS below at FL280 and started to adjust vertical descent rate. TCAS RA was triggered for level off. Crew disconnected autopilot and autothrottles and leveled off until traffic was clear; and then continued descent to FL290. Reported RA to ATC. Crew was then notified of aircraft at FL280.ATC was overwhelmed. Perhaps more controllers are needed in that sector. At the very least; a heads up for aircraft at FL280 would have helped. Crew could have ignored the high on path profile and also descended slower; but that would have caused problems down the road.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air carrier flight crew reported ATC was difficult to communicate with and suggested that staffing is a contributing factor.
Narrative: ATC held the flight high. Were given clearance to descend to lower altitude. Aircraft was 7;000 feet high on path. Began expedited descent to catch up to path; ATC then gave level off of FL290. Around FL320; Pilot Flying noticed traffic appear on TCAS below at FL280 and started to adjust vertical descent rate. TCAS RA was triggered for level off. Crew disconnected autopilot and autothrottles and leveled off until traffic was clear; and then continued descent to FL290. Reported RA to ATC. Crew was then notified of aircraft at FL280.ATC was overwhelmed. Perhaps more Controllers are needed in that sector. At the very least; a heads up for aircraft at FL280 would have helped. Crew could have ignored the high on path profile and also descended slower; but that would have caused problems down the road.
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.