<< >> NASA ASRS Report 201722, February 1992

Controller reports air carrier descended without authorization due to TCASII alert. Area supposedly a known false TCASII location.

Attributes
ACN	201722
Time
Date	199202
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : nfl
State Reference	NV
Altitude	msl bound lower : 31200 msl bound upper : 33000
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zoa
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Large Transport, Low Wing, 3 Turbojet Eng
Flight Phase	cruise other
Route In Use	enroute : direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : radar
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller radar : 10
ASRS Report	201722
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : excursion from assigned altitude non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : unspecified other controllera other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation
Situations
Navigational Aid	Unspecified

Narrative:

Air carrier X descended from FL330 to FL312 without an ATC clearance. The pilot said that his TCASII indicated that there were 3 aircraft in his vicinity. There were no known aircraft near air carrier X. The incident occurred over fallon naval air station. There have been previous false TCASII reports in this area. Fallon has been known to use equipment that causes false TCASII alerts. To the best of my knowledge they have been instructed to keep this equipment turned off.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CTLR RPTS ACR DSNDED WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION DUE TO TCASII ALERT. AREA SUPPOSEDLY A KNOWN FALSE TCASII LOCATION.

Narrative: ACR X DSNDED FROM FL330 TO FL312 WITHOUT AN ATC CLRNC. THE PLT SAID THAT HIS TCASII INDICATED THAT THERE WERE 3 ACFT IN HIS VICINITY. THERE WERE NO KNOWN ACFT NEAR ACR X. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED OVER FALLON NAVAL AIR STATION. THERE HAVE BEEN PREVIOUS FALSE TCASII RPTS IN THIS AREA. FALLON HAS BEEN KNOWN TO USE EQUIP THAT CAUSES FALSE TCASII ALERTS. TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE THEY HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO KEEP THIS EQUIP TURNED OFF.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.