B737 flight crew may have misunderstood descent clearance and leveled at 7000 ft rather than 8000 ft...

Attributes
ACN	514790
Time
Date	200105
Day	Wed
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : n90.tracon
State Reference	NY
Altitude	msl bound lower : 7000 msl bound upper : 8000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : mia.tower
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737-800
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Route In Use	arrival : on vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 50 flight time total : 4500
ASRS Report	514790
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : excursion from assigned altitude non adherence : published procedure non adherence : clearance
Resolutory Action	controller : issued advisory
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Human Performance Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Ambiguous

Narrative:

Received clearance to descend to 7000 ft MSL and slow to 180 KTS. We complied and when level at 7000 ft MSL and slowing through 215 KTS, the controller said that we were supposed to be at 8000 ft MSL. The captain repeated our clearance of 7000 ft MSL and 180 KTS to him.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 FLT CREW MAY HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD DSCNT CLRNC AND LEVELED AT 7000 FT RATHER THAN 8000 FT.

Narrative: RECEIVED CLRNC TO DSND TO 7000 FT MSL AND SLOW TO 180 KTS. WE COMPLIED AND WHEN LEVEL AT 7000 FT MSL AND SLOWING THROUGH 215 KTS, THE CTLR SAID THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE AT 8000 FT MSL. THE CAPT REPEATED OUR CLRNC OF 7000 FT MSL AND 180 KTS TO HIM.

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.