An air carrier inbound to sbgr on vectors was cleared to FL090 but read back 'cleared to FL80'. A la...

Attributes
ACN	916347
Time
Date	201010
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	SBGR.Airport
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	STAR PIRA
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Narrative:

Descending into sbgr with radar vectoring for spacing. Sao paulo approach issues descent clearance to FL080. The captain (pilot not flying) reads back FL080 and sets the MCP and points; I (pilot flying); confirm FL080. The relief pilot also hears FL080. Next clearance is to hold at lane; left turns; expect one turn. As we are proceeding to lane; controller clears us to descend to FL090. We are already passing through FL086 and respond to her the same. We then climb to FL090 and hold. After hold we are cleared to the airport via the pira 5 arrival. No loss of separation between other aircraft or terrain occurred. Possible call sign confusion on part of the controller since a flight with a similar call sign was ahead of us; however; we were not both on this frequency when this event occurred.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier inbound to SBGR on vectors was cleared to FL090 but read back 'cleared to FL80'. A later clearance to hold at LANE at FL90 alerted the flight crew and ATC to the error. The Relief Pilot cited poor english fluency on the part of the Approach Controller as a contributing factor.

Narrative: Descending into SBGR with radar vectoring for spacing. Sao Paulo Approach issues descent clearance to FL080. The Captain (Pilot Not Flying) reads back FL080 and sets the MCP and points; I (Pilot Flying); confirm FL080. The Relief Pilot also hears FL080. Next clearance is to hold at LANE; left turns; expect one turn. As we are proceeding to LANE; Controller clears us to descend to FL090. We are already passing through FL086 and respond to her the same. We then climb to FL090 and hold. After hold we are cleared to the airport via the PIRA 5 arrival. No loss of separation between other aircraft or terrain occurred. Possible call sign confusion on part of the Controller since a flight with a similar call sign was ahead of us; however; we were not both on this frequency when this event occurred.

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.

An air carrier inbound to sbgr on vectors was cleared to FL090 but read back 'cleared to FL80'. A later clearance to hold at lane at FL90 alerted the flight crew and ATC to the error. The relief pilot cited poor english fluency on the part of the approach controller as a contributing factor.