A large transport aircraft captain departing jfk reported responding to a TCAS RA approaching 5;000 ...

Narrative:

During our initial turn east; we were told of a VFR small aircraft at our 9 o'clock. We were cleared to 5000 ft. He was reported level at 5500 ft. As we approached 5;000 ft in a very slight climb; we received a RA to descend. The TCAS indicated the other aircraft altitude at 300 ft above us. We complied and reported the RA to ATC. ATC seemed unconcerned and after the other aircraft passed behind us; we climbed back to 5000 ft. We deviated about 400 ft total. The other aircraft seemed to not be at its assigned altitude. He seemed to be at 5000 ft. Our response to the RA was gentle and not even the flight attendants noticed the altitude change.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Large Transport Aircraft Captain departing JFK reported responding to a TCAS RA approaching 5;000 FT and subsequently having a near miss with a VFR aircraft. The VFR aircraft appeared to not be at the reported 5;500 FT altitude.

Narrative: During our initial turn east; we were told of a VFR small aircraft at our 9 o'clock. We were cleared to 5000 FT. He was reported level at 5500 FT. As we approached 5;000 FT in a very slight climb; we received a RA to descend. The TCAS indicated the other aircraft altitude at 300 FT above us. We complied and reported the RA to ATC. ATC seemed unconcerned and after the other aircraft passed behind us; we climbed back to 5000 FT. We deviated about 400 FT total. The other aircraft seemed to not be at its assigned altitude. He seemed to be at 5000 FT. Our response to the RA was gentle and not even the Flight Attendants noticed the altitude change.

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	875348
Time
Date	201002
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	JFK.Airport
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Events
Anomaly	Conflict NMAC
Miss Distance	Vertical 400

A large transport aircraft captain departing jfk reported responding to a TCAS RA approaching 5;000 ft and subsequently having a near miss with a VFR aircraft. The VFR aircraft appeared to not be at the reported 5;500 ft altitude.