A B737 flight crew climbing through 15800 ft is told to descend back down to 15000 ft by controller ...

Attributes
ACN	469510
Time
Date	200004
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : iah.airport
State Reference	TX
Altitude	msl bound lower : 15000 msl bound upper : 16000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zhu.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	other
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	departure : on vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 240 flight time total : 18000 flight time type : 550
ASRS Report	469510
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : required legal separation other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Human Performance Airspace Structure
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance

Narrative:

Flight iah-slc. On climb out, ATC cleared us to climb to 16000 ft (normally cleared up to FL230 at this point). Approximately passing 15800 ft, we were told by ATC to halt climb at 15000 ft. We had to make an abrupt reversal and descend back down to 15000 ft. We told ATC we were already past 15000 ft and descending back down. We were not told of any traffic conflict. We assume it was ATC's mistake on altitude or traffic separation. We were unaware of any problem.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 FLC CLBING THROUGH 15800 FT IS TOLD TO DSND BACK DOWN TO 15000 FT BY CTLR AT ZHU, TX.

Narrative: FLT IAH-SLC. ON CLBOUT, ATC CLRED US TO CLB TO 16000 FT (NORMALLY CLRED UP TO FL230 AT THIS POINT). APPROX PASSING 15800 FT, WE WERE TOLD BY ATC TO HALT CLB AT 15000 FT. WE HAD TO MAKE AN ABRUPT REVERSAL AND DSND BACK DOWN TO 15000 FT. WE TOLD ATC WE WERE ALREADY PAST 15000 FT AND DSNDING BACK DOWN. WE WERE NOT TOLD OF ANY TFC CONFLICT. WE ASSUME IT WAS ATC'S MISTAKE ON ALT OR TFC SEPARATION. WE WERE UNAWARE OF ANY PROB.

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.

A B737 flight crew climbing through 15800 ft is told to descend back down to 15000 ft by controller at ZHU, tx.