Narrative:

Problem occurred by poor communication from ATC and lack of TA's. Our aircraft radio was written up for maintenance check. To this writer's knowledge, the radio was found to work correctly by maintenance during the en route portion of our trip from sjc to san. We (aircraft X) were cleared to FL270 and told to hold east of sxc on the 084 degree radial, because of delays in san landing to the east. As we proceeded direct to sxc to enter holding as we were approximately 15 NM from the VOR, ZLA canceled our holding clearance and turned us right toward the coast on a 060 degree heading. At completion of the turn, we received a traffic alert from the TCASII. Approximately 30 seconds later, we received an RA to descend. We descended, following the TCASII guidance until reaching FL265 when we received a clear of conflict message from the TCASII. We advised ZLA of the RA conflict and our deviation from altitude, that we were returning to assigned altitude. ZLA cleared us back to FL270 and advised us they could not contact us. Upon receiving our clear of conflict message, we noticed the intruding aircraft (aircraft Y) was 2 mi at our 6 O'clock position and 600 ft above us. We are not sure exactly how close we came, we are fairly certain it was a 'near miss.' we queried the ZLA controller about where the traffic was and was told to call the center after landing. ZLA continued to complain about our radio. Upon landing, we wrote the #1 radio up with the ATC complaint. This writer called flight control to advise them of the incident and the write-up. This writer does not believe there was anything wrong with the radio. This was our third leg that day with this aircraft and had no complaints about it from any of the other ATC facilities. This writer called the center and talked to one of the supervisors on duty with the controller we were communicating with. The supervisor stated they could not raise us and tried several times, however, the supervisor did state our controller was brand new. This writer believes the controller turned us into the path of a descending aircraft, not realizing it in all of the confusion with holding and saturation. Submitted a NASA report for TCASII.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR DC9 FLC REACTS TO TCASII RA DSCNT COMMAND WHILE IN ENRTE HOLDING. UPON RETURNING TO ASSIGNED ALT, CTLR COMPLAINS THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH FLC. NO OTHER COM PROBS BEFORE OR AFTER. MAINT FOUND NO PROBS WITH RADIOS.

Narrative: PROB OCCURRED BY POOR COM FROM ATC AND LACK OF TA'S. OUR ACFT RADIO WAS WRITTEN UP FOR MAINT CHK. TO THIS WRITER'S KNOWLEDGE, THE RADIO WAS FOUND TO WORK CORRECTLY BY MAINT DURING THE ENRTE PORTION OF OUR TRIP FROM SJC TO SAN. WE (ACFT X) WERE CLRED TO FL270 AND TOLD TO HOLD E OF SXC ON THE 084 DEG RADIAL, BECAUSE OF DELAYS IN SAN LNDG TO THE E. AS WE PROCEEDED DIRECT TO SXC TO ENTER HOLDING AS WE WERE APPROX 15 NM FROM THE VOR, ZLA CANCELED OUR HOLDING CLRNC AND TURNED US R TOWARD THE COAST ON A 060 DEG HDG. AT COMPLETION OF THE TURN, WE RECEIVED A TFC ALERT FROM THE TCASII. APPROX 30 SECONDS LATER, WE RECEIVED AN RA TO DSND. WE DSNDED, FOLLOWING THE TCASII GUIDANCE UNTIL REACHING FL265 WHEN WE RECEIVED A CLR OF CONFLICT MESSAGE FROM THE TCASII. WE ADVISED ZLA OF THE RA CONFLICT AND OUR DEV FROM ALT, THAT WE WERE RETURNING TO ASSIGNED ALT. ZLA CLRED US BACK TO FL270 AND ADVISED US THEY COULD NOT CONTACT US. UPON RECEIVING OUR CLR OF CONFLICT MESSAGE, WE NOTICED THE INTRUDING ACFT (ACFT Y) WAS 2 MI AT OUR 6 O'CLOCK POS AND 600 FT ABOVE US. WE ARE NOT SURE EXACTLY HOW CLOSE WE CAME, WE ARE FAIRLY CERTAIN IT WAS A 'NEAR MISS.' WE QUERIED THE ZLA CTLR ABOUT WHERE THE TFC WAS AND WAS TOLD TO CALL THE CTR AFTER LNDG. ZLA CONTINUED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR RADIO. UPON LNDG, WE WROTE THE #1 RADIO UP WITH THE ATC COMPLAINT. THIS WRITER CALLED FLT CTL TO ADVISE THEM OF THE INCIDENT AND THE WRITE-UP. THIS WRITER DOES NOT BELIEVE THERE WAS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE RADIO. THIS WAS OUR THIRD LEG THAT DAY WITH THIS ACFT AND HAD NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT IT FROM ANY OF THE OTHER ATC FACILITIES. THIS WRITER CALLED THE CTR AND TALKED TO ONE OF THE SUPERVISORS ON DUTY WITH THE CTLR WE WERE COMMUNICATING WITH. THE SUPVR STATED THEY COULD NOT RAISE US AND TRIED SEVERAL TIMES, HOWEVER, THE SUPVR DID STATE OUR CTLR WAS BRAND NEW. THIS WRITER BELIEVES THE CTLR TURNED US INTO THE PATH OF A DSNDING ACFT, NOT REALIZING IT IN ALL OF THE CONFUSION WITH HOLDING AND SATURATION. SUBMITTED A NASA RPT FOR TCASII.

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.