Narrative:

The first officer was flying the pomona 1 departure out of ont. There is a 7000' altitude restriction at karyn intersection, 2 NM from pomono VOR. There was a very careful briefing of the departure and 7000' was set in the altitude alert window. When we were handed off to departure control from ont tower, the departure controller cleared us to 12000'. I read back that we were cleared unrestricted to climb to 12000' very slowly and carefully, since that was very unusual for departure control to issue that deletion of the altitude restriction. The readback was as follows: 'understand climb unrestricted to 12000?' the controller replied, 'roger.' at about 7800' MSL the controller questioned our altitude and told us to descend to 7000'. Then he changed his mind and told us to continue to 12000'. At that time I made several comments about him just previously clearing us unrestricted to 12000' and that I had read back the clearance very slowly and carefully, expressing surprise in my voice that he had given us that clearance in the first place. The I stated that he better read back the tape if he had any questions about my careful and slow readback of his unrestricted clearance. I can't think of any possible way of preventing a future occurrence except to ignore the deletion of the restriction and fly the published altitude profile instead. I couldn't possibly have made the fact that the restriction was more clear west/O repeating myself several times. The only other possibility is for them not to issue a clearance above 7000' until past karyn.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MLG BUSTED CROSSING RESTRICTION AT KARYN INTERSECTION. PLT PHRASEOLOGY 'UNRESTRICTED CLIMB' NOT CAUGHT BY DEP CTLR.

Narrative: THE F/O WAS FLYING THE POMONA 1 DEP OUT OF ONT. THERE IS A 7000' ALT RESTRICTION AT KARYN INTXN, 2 NM FROM POMONO VOR. THERE WAS A VERY CAREFUL BRIEFING OF THE DEP AND 7000' WAS SET IN THE ALT ALERT WINDOW. WHEN WE WERE HANDED OFF TO DEP CTL FROM ONT TWR, THE DEP CTLR CLRED US TO 12000'. I READ BACK THAT WE WERE CLRED UNRESTRICTED TO CLB TO 12000' VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY, SINCE THAT WAS VERY UNUSUAL FOR DEP CTL TO ISSUE THAT DELETION OF THE ALT RESTRICTION. THE READBACK WAS AS FOLLOWS: 'UNDERSTAND CLB UNRESTRICTED TO 12000?' THE CTLR REPLIED, 'ROGER.' AT ABOUT 7800' MSL THE CTLR QUESTIONED OUR ALT AND TOLD US TO DSND TO 7000'. THEN HE CHANGED HIS MIND AND TOLD US TO CONTINUE TO 12000'. AT THAT TIME I MADE SEVERAL COMMENTS ABOUT HIM JUST PREVIOUSLY CLRING US UNRESTRICTED TO 12000' AND THAT I HAD READ BACK THE CLRNC VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY, EXPRESSING SURPRISE IN MY VOICE THAT HE HAD GIVEN US THAT CLRNC IN THE FIRST PLACE. THE I STATED THAT HE BETTER READ BACK THE TAPE IF HE HAD ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT MY CAREFUL AND SLOW READBACK OF HIS UNRESTRICTED CLRNC. I CAN'T THINK OF ANY POSSIBLE WAY OF PREVENTING A FUTURE OCCURRENCE EXCEPT TO IGNORE THE DELETION OF THE RESTRICTION AND FLY THE PUBLISHED ALT PROFILE INSTEAD. I COULDN'T POSSIBLY HAVE MADE THE FACT THAT THE RESTRICTION WAS MORE CLR W/O REPEATING MYSELF SEVERAL TIMES. THE ONLY OTHER POSSIBILITY IS FOR THEM NOT TO ISSUE A CLRNC ABOVE 7000' UNTIL PAST KARYN.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 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.