MD88 with ZDC at FL330 experienced TCAS RA with unreported traffic; ATC indicated failed intrafacili...

Attributes
ACN	825134
Time
Date	200902
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	SBV.VORTAC
State Reference	MD
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-88
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Engineer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 181 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 10000
Events
Anomaly	Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude
Miss Distance	Vertical 500

Narrative:

Night TCAS RA. At cruise at FL330; we received a traffic alert from TCAS which immediately transitioned to an RA. Traffic was first observed on the radar screen 5 NM ahead and 500 ft below us and in a climb (we could also see it visually). TCAS directed a descent and I disconnected the autopilot and started down. We notified ATC about the traffic and the RA and they instructed us to 'do whatever you need to do...turn right if you can.' we leveled off at about FL324 when we were clear of conflict and climbed back up to FL330. I was given a phone number for ZDC which I called upon landing. The supervisor told me that the incident was under investigation but it appeared that the other aircraft (southbound) had been cleared to climb through our altitude from FL320 to FL340 by the previous controller and was not yet talking to our controller. He said that it looked like on the radar tracks that we 'did a heck of a job' turning a really bad situation into an ok one. He also commented that because of my maneuver; there was not a loss of separation. I do not know how close we came to each other.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD88 with ZDC at FL330 experienced TCAS RA with unreported traffic; ATC indicated failed intrafacility coordination caused event; legal separation was maintained due to pilot action.

Narrative: Night TCAS RA. At cruise at FL330; we received a traffic alert from TCAS which immediately transitioned to an RA. Traffic was first observed on the radar screen 5 NM ahead and 500 FT below us and in a climb (we could also see it visually). TCAS directed a descent and I disconnected the autopilot and started down. We notified ATC about the traffic and the RA and they instructed us to 'do whatever you need to do...turn right if you can.' We leveled off at about FL324 when we were clear of conflict and climbed back up to FL330. I was given a phone number for ZDC which I called upon landing. The Supervisor told me that the incident was under investigation but it appeared that the other aircraft (southbound) had been cleared to climb through our altitude from FL320 to FL340 by the previous Controller and was not yet talking to our Controller. He said that it looked like on the radar tracks that we 'did a heck of a job' turning a really bad situation into an OK one. He also commented that because of my maneuver; there was not a loss of separation. I do not know how close we came to each other.

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.