B757-200 flight crew refused a clearance to climb to FL370 in oceanic airspace account three conflic...

Attributes
ACN	824418
Time
Date	200902
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZOA.ARTCC
State Reference	CA
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Oceanic
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	TCAS Equipment
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 3500
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 7000 Flight Crew Type 3600
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

Narrative:

During later stage of flight on R577 crossing non-radar received an unsolicited clearance through comrdo from ATC to climb to FL370. Displayed by TCAS on CRT was an aircraft at FL370 10 NM left of us; another 20 NM right of us at FL370; and one slightly ahead at FL390. We told ATC unable due to apparent traffic. Traffic had been displayed from leveloff at cruise altitude. Contacted ATC per their request and were told no aircraft in vicinity at those altitudes. Found TCAS circuit breaker; recycled; and all 3 targets disappeared. We then accepted ATC clearance and climbed to FL370. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: no additional information was provided in the callback.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757-200 flight crew refused a clearance to climb to FL370 in oceanic airspace account three conflicting TCAS targets; two at FL370 and one at FL390. Ultimately discover the returns are false when the TCAS circuit breaker is recycled.

Narrative: During later stage of flight on R577 crossing non-radar received an unsolicited clearance through COMRDO from ATC to climb to FL370. Displayed by TCAS on CRT was an aircraft at FL370 10 NM left of us; another 20 NM right of us at FL370; and one slightly ahead at FL390. We told ATC unable due to apparent traffic. Traffic had been displayed from leveloff at cruise altitude. Contacted ATC per their request and were told no aircraft in vicinity at those altitudes. Found TCAS circuit breaker; recycled; and all 3 targets disappeared. We then accepted ATC clearance and climbed to FL370. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: No additional information was provided in the Callback.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.