Flight crew of widebody transport had traffic conflict with climbing departing miquita, venezuela.

Attributes
ACN	119105
Time
Date	198908
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : miq
State Reference	FO
Altitude	msl bound lower : 4000 msl bound upper : 5000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : miq
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Widebody, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	departure other departure sid : sid
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 180 flight time total : 13000 flight time type : 350
ASRS Report	119105
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : overshoot non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Ambiguous
Air Traffic Incident	Inter Facility Coordination Failure

Narrative:

Cleared by ATC G432 sju maintain FL290. Departing runway 27, after takeoff VFR, switched to departure 120.1. Noticed aircraft at 12 O'clock as we turned to 050 degrees. Aircraft was at 9 O'clock appeared level. We expedited climb above him still trying to contact departure, but spanish was being spoken and we could not get in. When we finally got in we were told by departure that we should be at 4000'. We told departure we had aircraft visually on climb out. We were not switched to departure by tower. Clearance cleared us off runway 27 with darpa #2 and we questioned if it should be darpa #3, and were told 'no, darpa #2.' we should have confirmed the SID and altitude with clearance. No mention was made of 4000' in the clearance. While taxiing out we were cleared for takeoff on ground control frequency. We taxied on runway and confirmed that we were cleared for takeoff. Tower confirmed, 'cleared for takeoff, maintain FL290.'

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLT CREW OF WDB HAD TRAFFIC CONFLICT WITH CLIMBING DEPARTING MIQUITA, VENEZUELA.

Narrative: CLRED BY ATC G432 SJU MAINTAIN FL290. DEPARTING RWY 27, AFTER TKOF VFR, SWITCHED TO DEP 120.1. NOTICED ACFT AT 12 O'CLOCK AS WE TURNED TO 050 DEGS. ACFT WAS AT 9 O'CLOCK APPEARED LEVEL. WE EXPEDITED CLB ABOVE HIM STILL TRYING TO CONTACT DEP, BUT SPANISH WAS BEING SPOKEN AND WE COULD NOT GET IN. WHEN WE FINALLY GOT IN WE WERE TOLD BY DEP THAT WE SHOULD BE AT 4000'. WE TOLD DEP WE HAD ACFT VISUALLY ON CLBOUT. WE WERE NOT SWITCHED TO DEP BY TWR. CLRNC CLRED US OFF RWY 27 WITH DARPA #2 AND WE QUESTIONED IF IT SHOULD BE DARPA #3, AND WERE TOLD 'NO, DARPA #2.' WE SHOULD HAVE CONFIRMED THE SID AND ALT WITH CLRNC. NO MENTION WAS MADE OF 4000' IN THE CLRNC. WHILE TAXIING OUT WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF ON GND CTL FREQ. WE TAXIED ON RWY AND CONFIRMED THAT WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF. TWR CONFIRMED, 'CLRED FOR TKOF, MAINTAIN FL290.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 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.