Pct controller described operational deviation when aircraft enter adjacent facilities airspace with...

Narrative:

While working a secondary departure sector; I failed to catch an altitude report by a pilot and subsequently the aircraft violated the airspace of another facility. During the investigation; it was revealed that the pilot had been assigned 170 but the last instruction the previous controller issued him was 'fly heading 330 degrees.' the pilot's readback was '330.' when the pilot checked in with me; he stated 'aircraft X with you 13 for 33;' I failed to catch the abbreviated altitudes he read me. The aircraft then climbed through my altitudes resulting in an operational deviation. 3 things about this deviation bother me. 1) the pilot's sloppy readback to the first controller '330;' 2) the pilot's sloppy check-in with me '13 for 33;' and 3) why aren't pilots held to a standard of phraseology that would help prevent hearback/readback incidents. Had the pilot checked in with some semblance of standard phraseology and stated the word 'climb' or 'flight levels' it would have caught my attention and clued me in to listen; 'aircraft X with you 13 thousand climbing to flight level 330.'

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PCT Controller described operational deviation when aircraft enter adjacent facilities airspace without coordination; alleging flight crew non-standard phraseology read back caused event.

Narrative: While working a secondary departure sector; I failed to catch an altitude report by a pilot and subsequently the aircraft violated the airspace of another facility. During the investigation; it was revealed that the pilot had been assigned 170 but the last instruction the previous Controller issued him was 'Fly heading 330 degrees.' The pilot's readback was '330.' When the pilot checked in with me; he stated 'aircraft X with you 13 for 33;' I failed to catch the abbreviated altitudes he read me. The aircraft then climbed through my altitudes resulting in an operational deviation. 3 things about this deviation bother me. 1) The pilot's sloppy readback to the first Controller '330;' 2) The pilot's sloppy check-in with me '13 for 33;' and 3) Why aren't pilots held to a standard of phraseology that would help prevent hearback/readback incidents. Had the pilot checked in with some semblance of standard phraseology and stated the word 'climb' or 'flight levels' it would have caught my attention and clued me in to listen; 'aircraft X with you 13 thousand climbing to Flight Level 330.'

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.

Attributes
ACN	825432
Time
Date	200902
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	DCA.Airport
State Reference	DC
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Departure
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Military 3 Air Traffic Control Radar 27 Air Traffic Control Supervisory 18 Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 18
Events
Anomaly	Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Pct controller described operational deviation when aircraft enter adjacent facilities airspace without coordination; alleging flight crew non-standard phraseology read back caused event.