An air carrier medium large transport flight crew reports that they had an encounter with an aircraft that descended through their altitude. The departure controller admitted to the error.

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Attributes
ACN	384693
Time
Date	199711
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : col
State Reference	NJ
Altitude	msl bound lower : 12000 msl bound upper : 12000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : n90
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude cruise other
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Beechcraft Twin Piston Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	other : unknown
Flight Phase	descent other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 160 flight time total : 20000
ASRS Report	384693
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	conflict : airborne less severe non adherence : required legal separation non adherence : published procedure non adherence : far other anomaly other
Independent Detector	atc equipment other atc equipment : unspecified aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : unspecified other controllera
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance flight crew : took evasive action other
Consequence	Other
Miss Distance	horizontal : 12000 vertical : 0
Supplementary
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Operational Error

Narrative:

TCASII TA showed traffic at 10:30 O'clock position, and 500 ft above us descending at 3 mi. TCASII then went to RA showing traffic moving from 12 to 1 O'clock position, descending through our altitude at about 2 mi. RA advised: 'monitor vertical speed.' at the same time we saw the traffic visually and ATC advised us to climb immediately to 17000 ft. ATC admitted it was their error. Had we not seen the traffic visually, this could have been very close.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR MLG FLC RPTS THAT THEY HAD AN ENCOUNTER WITH AN ACFT THAT DSNDED THROUGH THEIR ALT. THE DEP CTLR ADMITTED TO THE ERROR.

Narrative: TCASII TA SHOWED TFC AT 10:30 O'CLOCK POS, AND 500 FT ABOVE US DSNDING AT 3 MI. TCASII THEN WENT TO RA SHOWING TFC MOVING FROM 12 TO 1 O'CLOCK POS, DSNDING THROUGH OUR ALT AT ABOUT 2 MI. RA ADVISED: 'MONITOR VERT SPD.' AT THE SAME TIME WE SAW THE TFC VISUALLY AND ATC ADVISED US TO CLB IMMEDIATELY TO 17000 FT. ATC ADMITTED IT WAS THEIR ERROR. HAD WE NOT SEEN THE TFC VISUALLY, THIS COULD HAVE BEEN VERY CLOSE.

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.