Forced to report @ 270

[StarChk20]

Flying the other day, descending to FL270. Out of FL280 the controller says ATC: "report level at FL270".
Us: "Roger"
ATC: "I need you to report level at FL270"
Us: "We're out of FL276 now and will report level at 270"
ATC: "I need you to report level at FL270 now"
Us at FL274: "ok we are level at FL270"


She needed us to report level at FL270 right away even though we weren't there. Anybody else have this happen/know why it happened?

 

[flatspin7]

It could have been a couple of things... either the controller lost your mode-c temporarily and couldnt see your alt read-out. Or maybe she was desceding someone in reference to you and needed to hear the words. Or she may have had a supervisor standing over he shoulder questioning everything.

 

[twepilot]

so you reported at an altitude that you weren't really at just because she wanted you to say you were level at that altitude??

RV

 

[unreal]

Maybe she was about to have a deal and wanted to somehow cover her ass on the tapes. I hear you can get mucho busted for that though, like, loss of job busted.

 

[circletoland]

Reporting take precidence over the mode C so that is a way to buy some altitude for the ATCer.

If the controler enters on the computer a hard altitude It will show you level at that altitude when the AC is with in 300', if your using Interim altitudes it will not give you the 300'.

 

[Seadogrun]

so you reported at an altitude that you weren't really at just because she wanted you to say you were level at that altitude??

RV

Is this what happened?

 

[cjdriver]

Had you been given an altitude restriction and you were about to miss it? Maybe she was trying to save your a$$.

 

[IHateDaley]

Sounds like she was about to have a deal.

 

[StarChk20]

No cross to make, just a very urgent controller that needed to hear 270. Don't think we were exceeding the rate of decent for mode c either, I think we were only doing about 2000fpm as we were in the process of leveling off. It was about 273/274 that we reported level at 270 since we were in the process of leveling. She just wouldn't let it go until she heard "Level at 270"

 

[SpiderMan]

Maybe she was about to have a deal and wanted to somehow cover her ass on the tapes. I hear you can get mucho busted for that though, like, loss of job busted.

Well if that is the case and it sounds like it, I would report 700 feet high for the hell of it. Nothing like abusing your authority to cover your ass.

 

[100-1/2]

Spidee,

Its not about you. Another posting says it could be anything and they are right. Sometimes, they just need to hear through reporting "Level or Level-ing" which enables them to issue another altitude change to a nearby aircraft that may be swapping sectors with you. The next controller won't take a hand-off if there is a pending deal between aircraft they are swapping with the sector you are entering. If the controller doesn't take the hand-off, then it means the aircraft needing the appropriate altitude instruction may get vectors to avoid entering a third sector's airspace simply because they could not get a climb or descent at the appropriate "gate".

Sample;

Spidee1234... descend FL240 contact FtWorth Ctr 133.32..


Ftw Ctr...Spidee1234....Out of 30.2 for FL240

Spidee1234...Ftworth...Amend altitude FL270..Report Level 270..


Spidee1234...Roger

FtW Ctr...Delta1012 Checking on 210.../Are we going to get a cruise altitude some time in our flight???


Her. Spidee1234...Report Level FL270.

You. Roger


Her. Spidee1234...Report Level FL270.

Roger...Spidee1234 Level 270 (in process of altitude capture).

Her. Delta1012 climb and Maintain FL260. Higher clearing opposite traffic.



She sees you coming up on the altitude and wants you to help HER out as well as Delta 1012 that is about to check-on needing FL260 on his way to ATL. She cannot give that instruction until she hears something resembling you holding FL270..

I dont remember ever seeing "leveling" as a report defined in the AIM. I use it as well as a host of other Professional entities and it seems to ease workload and put everyone on the same page while containing the key ingredients needed in situations like that subject of this thread.

100-1/2

 

[WTF]

naaah.

Spidee,

Its not about you. Another posting says it could be anything and they are right. Sometimes, they just need to hear through reporting "Level or Level-ing" which enables them to issue another altitude change to a nearby aircraft that may be swapping sectors with you. The next controller won't take a hand-off if there is a pending deal between aircraft they are swapping with the sector you are entering. If the controller doesn't take the hand-off, then it means the aircraft needing the appropriate altitude instruction may get vectors to avoid entering a third sector's airspace simply because they could not get a climb or descent at the appropriate "gate".

Sample;

Spidee1234... descend FL240 contact FtWorth Ctr 133.32..


Ftw Ctr...Spidee1234....Out of 30.2 for FL240

Spidee1234...Ftworth...Amend altitude FL270..Report Level 270..


Spidee1234...Roger

FtW Ctr...Delta1012 Checking on 210.../Are we going to get a cruise altitude some time in our flight???


Her. Spidee1234...Report Level FL270.


You. Roger


Her. Spidee1234...Report Level FL270.

Roger...Spidee1234 Level 270 (in process of altitude capture).

Her. Delta1012 climb and Maintain FL260. Higher clearing opposite traffic.



She sees you coming up on the altitude and wants you to help HER out as well as Delta 1012 that is about to check-on needing FL260 on his way to ATL. She cannot give that instruction until she hears something resembling you holding FL270..

I dont remember ever seeing "leveling" as a report defined in the AIM. I use it as well as a host of other Professional entities and it seems to ease workload and put everyone on the same page while containing the key ingredients needed in situations like that subject of this thread.

100-1/2

No Delta1012 can wait another 6-9 seconds as Spidee captures altitude as assigned and reports as requested. Less congestion of the airways. If she has to pass it off to the next sector so be it.

 

[moso23]

starchk20, the reason, most likely, was because the controller may have thought they were going to lose the required minimum seperation between your a/c and another a/c. or maybe she really needed that level report from you to descend someone on top of you to fl280. as stated in earlier posts, it could have been a number of things.

also, keep in mind that the info a controller sees on the radar scope is not instantaneous. there's about a six second lag between what your a/c is doing and what atc sees on the radar scope. in those few seconds, A LOT can happen. thus, sometimes it's important for the controller to know exactly what your altitude is at that moment instead of waiting for the radar scope to update your mode c info.

many times, atc will 'ask' a pilot to report leaving/reaching or confirm level at x altitiude. it's a 'hint', a big 'hint' if the controller keeps requesting the altitude info from you, that the controller wants to hear what they need to hear to keep the expeditious flow of traffic going. hope that makes sense???

also, the example given above by 100.5 is a poor one. a controller only needs 1000ft seperation. since the one a/c received a clearance to fl270 AND read it back AND the controller heard the readback, there's no need to ask for a level report and the controller can subsequently give the delta a climb to fl260. fl270 - fl260...1000 feet seperation. it may be a good idea for the controller to issue traffic to both aircraft if their targets are going to eventually merge at some point.

and no, pilots are not required to report 'leveling' at their last atc assigned altitude. if that were the case, there would be A LOT, and i mean A LOT, of unwanted frequency congestion. i don't know any pilots that do that, unless requested to do so by atc.

 

[Hawker rider]

and no, pilots are not required to report 'leveling' at their last atc assigned altitude. if that were the case, there would be A LOT, and i mean A LOT, of unwanted frequency congestion. i don't know any pilots that do that, unless requested to do so by atc.

I was always under the impression that you were supposed to report once you made your level off.

 

[Booster]

Report what you see on your altimeter. Do not let a controller bully you into making a false report.
HR We are required to report vacating an altitude, you report leveling only when requested.

 

[Captain X]

FWIW, I believe a ARTCC radar sweeps your target once every 12 seconds. It is likely she was trying to maintain minimum separation and either couldn't update your Mode-C readout fast enough, or as you or the other airplane in the descent may have encountered higher winds closing the distance sooner than she expected and she needed a verbal report of your altitude.

As far as making a "false" report, a little higher situational awareness and better understanding of the ATC system may have prompted the words "Leveling FLXXX" which would have satisfied her and would not have been falsifying a report.