Narrative:

Upon climb out from day on jan/wed/00, I was the first officer on a scheduled far part 121 cargo flight xx operated from dayton, oh, to san jose, ca. Our flight was cleared direct to stl VOR and was issued several climbs by ZID. Our last issued clearance was a climb to FL310. This was our final cruise altitude. Passing FL295, we were queried by the controller as to what our issued altitude and I responded that it was FL310. The controller sounded puzzled and no further comment was made until a later time. A cargo flight yx was climbing westward approximately 5 mins behind and was issued an intermediate leveloff at FL280. Later, radio query with the controller resolved that we had understood the clearance correctly and that there was no problem. He went on to say he had just relieved a controller who had been on duty all night. I believe the previous controller's brief during the handoff was incomplete and possibly due to fatigue. Both briefer/controllers showed that the handoff of air traffic between shift changes was inadequate. Possible confusion may have also been caused by similar flight numbers with the same carrier.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CTLR QUESTIONS ACFT'S ALT AFTER LESS THAN ADEQUATE BRIEFING BY CTLR BEING RELIEVED AT ARTCC.

Narrative: UPON CLBOUT FROM DAY ON JAN/WED/00, I WAS THE FO ON A SCHEDULED FAR PART 121 CARGO FLT XX OPERATED FROM DAYTON, OH, TO SAN JOSE, CA. OUR FLT WAS CLRED DIRECT TO STL VOR AND WAS ISSUED SEVERAL CLBS BY ZID. OUR LAST ISSUED CLRNC WAS A CLB TO FL310. THIS WAS OUR FINAL CRUISE ALT. PASSING FL295, WE WERE QUERIED BY THE CTLR AS TO WHAT OUR ISSUED ALT AND I RESPONDED THAT IT WAS FL310. THE CTLR SOUNDED PUZZLED AND NO FURTHER COMMENT WAS MADE UNTIL A LATER TIME. A CARGO FLT YX WAS CLBING WESTWARD APPROX 5 MINS BEHIND AND WAS ISSUED AN INTERMEDIATE LEVELOFF AT FL280. LATER, RADIO QUERY WITH THE CTLR RESOLVED THAT WE HAD UNDERSTOOD THE CLRNC CORRECTLY AND THAT THERE WAS NO PROB. HE WENT ON TO SAY HE HAD JUST RELIEVED A CTLR WHO HAD BEEN ON DUTY ALL NIGHT. I BELIEVE THE PREVIOUS CTLR'S BRIEF DURING THE HDOF WAS INCOMPLETE AND POSSIBLY DUE TO FATIGUE. BOTH BRIEFER/CTLRS SHOWED THAT THE HDOF OF AIR TFC BTWN SHIFT CHANGES WAS INADEQUATE. POSSIBLE CONFUSION MAY HAVE ALSO BEEN CAUSED BY SIMILAR FLT NUMBERS WITH THE SAME CARRIER.

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.