Forced to report @ 270

[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.