B727 descending to land fll, assigned 15000 ft, leveled off when told of traffic climbing to 15000 f...

Attributes
ACN	594030
Time
Date	200308
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	intersection : dubbl
State Reference	FL
Altitude	msl single value : 15000
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zma.artcc tower : lga.tower
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B727 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	arrival star : mrlin
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zma.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 100 flight time total : 8927 flight time type : 1600
ASRS Report	594030
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Events
Anomaly	conflict : airborne less severe non adherence : published procedure non adherence : required legal separation
Independent Detector	atc equipment other atc equipment : radar/mode c aircraft equipment : tcas other controllera other flight crewa other flight crewb other other : 3-4
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance controller : separated traffic flight crew : took precautionary avoidance action
Consequence	faa : investigated
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Human Performance
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

While descending on mrlin arrival into fll, we were cleared down to 15000 ft, passing 16000 ft, opposite direction traffic climbing to 15000 ft was reported to us. I started to level off, and asked PNF to verify altitude assignment, simultaneously, opposite direction aircraft reported 'aircraft descending into (his) altitude,' on TCASII. The controller said 'verify descending to 16000 ft' to us, and when we told him we were assigned 15000 ft, he amended it to 16000 ft. Once on the ground I spoke to an ATC supervisor on the phone who verified that we were, in fact, cleared to 15000 ft as we believed. He said there may have been an amended clearance to stop at 16000 ft, but none had been received or responded to. He also said separation standards were not violated, and that there 'may have been a controller error,' but that he expected no further action would be taken.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B727 DSNDING TO LAND FLL, ASSIGNED 15000 FT, LEVELED OFF WHEN TOLD OF TFC CLBING TO 15000 FT.

Narrative: WHILE DSNDING ON MRLIN ARR INTO FLL, WE WERE CLRED DOWN TO 15000 FT, PASSING 16000 FT, OPPOSITE DIRECTION TFC CLBING TO 15000 FT WAS RPTED TO US. I STARTED TO LEVEL OFF, AND ASKED PNF TO VERIFY ALT ASSIGNMENT, SIMULTANEOUSLY, OPPOSITE DIRECTION ACFT RPTED 'ACFT DSNDING INTO (HIS) ALT,' ON TCASII. THE CTLR SAID 'VERIFY DSNDING TO 16000 FT' TO US, AND WHEN WE TOLD HIM WE WERE ASSIGNED 15000 FT, HE AMENDED IT TO 16000 FT. ONCE ON THE GND I SPOKE TO AN ATC SUPVR ON THE PHONE WHO VERIFIED THAT WE WERE, IN FACT, CLRED TO 15000 FT AS WE BELIEVED. HE SAID THERE MAY HAVE BEEN AN AMENDED CLRNC TO STOP AT 16000 FT, BUT NONE HAD BEEN RECEIVED OR RESPONDED TO. HE ALSO SAID SEPARATION STANDARDS WERE NOT VIOLATED, AND THAT THERE 'MAY HAVE BEEN A CTLR ERROR,' BUT THAT HE EXPECTED NO FURTHER ACTION WOULD BE TAKEN.

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.

B727 descending to land fll, assigned 15000 ft, leveled off when told of traffic climbing to 15000 ft.