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A classic language barrier incident caused a B747-400 flight crew to climb to 7;900 meters vice 7;800 as corrected by ATC.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 953465 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201106 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZSPD.Airport |
| State Reference | FO |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B747-400 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Route In Use | SID PIKAS11X |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 350 Flight Crew Total 15450 Flight Crew Type 12000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance |
Narrative:
Due to bad weather and traffic congestion we departed 3 hours and 33 minutes late due to shanghai ATC delays. Once airborne I noticed immediately that ATC was extremely saturated and that the chinese pilots were speaking almost exclusively in chinese and radio courtesy was non existent. On the climb out we received a climb to what I thought I heard as 7;900 meters and I responded back to departure the same. We leveled at 7;900 meters (25;900 ft) several minutes later ATC called us to verify level at 7;800 meters. I responded that we had leveled at 7;900 meters and they directed us to descend to 7;800 meters (25;600 ft). We continued on at 7;800 meters until the next level change and the rest of the flight was uneventful. The mix up on the altitude came from radio congestion and possibly poor radio transmission quality from ATC. My first officer and I briefed about the difficulty understanding the controllers and this was a perfect example. Obviously they have a hard time understanding us as they did not pickup on my repeating 7;900 meters vs 7;800 meters. Due vigilance on communications is key in all places where english isn't the primary language.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A classic language barrier incident caused a B747-400 flight crew to climb to 7;900 meters vice 7;800 as corrected by ATC.
Narrative: Due to bad weather and traffic congestion we departed 3 hours and 33 minutes late due to Shanghai ATC delays. Once airborne I noticed immediately that ATC was extremely saturated and that the Chinese pilots were speaking almost exclusively in Chinese and radio courtesy was non existent. On the climb out we received a climb to what I thought I heard as 7;900 meters and I responded back to Departure the same. We leveled at 7;900 meters (25;900 FT) several minutes later ATC called us to verify level at 7;800 meters. I responded that we had leveled at 7;900 meters and they directed us to descend to 7;800 meters (25;600 FT). We continued on at 7;800 meters until the next level change and the rest of the flight was uneventful. The mix up on the altitude came from radio congestion and possibly poor radio transmission quality from ATC. My First Officer and I briefed about the difficulty understanding the controllers and this was a perfect example. Obviously they have a hard time understanding us as they did not pickup on my repeating 7;900 meters VS 7;800 meters. Due vigilance on communications is key in all places where English isn't the primary language.
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.