A B737-700 inbound to sfo; descending on the modesto 5 STAR to FL200 received and responded to TA an...

Attributes
ACN	1193304
Time
Date	201408
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZOA.ARTCC
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR MODESTO 5
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 263 Flight Crew Type 8000
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

We were vectored off the modesto 5 arrival into sfo for spacing. The vector was to the left of course. As we were descending through FL210 for FL200; approach called out one o'clock traffic below. The traffic was climbing and courses were converging. My first officer; pilot monitoring; saw the traffic right as we received the resolution advisory (RA) to climb. He was 900 feet below us. The other traffic told ATC that he was responding to the RA and descending. The radio was congested and we told him we were responding to an RA as soon as we could as well. The instructions from ATC were opposite of what the RA was telling us to do vertically. He then gave us instructions to turn toward the other aircraft from a 210 heading to a 270 heading; which we elected not to do until we were clear of conflict. We complied with the RA and eventually leveled at FL220 before we got clear of the conflict. We then turned to a 290 heading and then a 310 heading per ATC's instructions and resumed our descent to FL200. This all happened very quickly.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-700 inbound to SFO; descending on the MODESTO 5 STAR to FL200 received and responded to TA and RA warnings with respect to opposite direction climbing traffic. While doing so they refused contradictory flight path corrections provided by ATC.

Narrative: We were vectored off the MODESTO 5 Arrival into SFO for spacing. The vector was to the left of course. As we were descending through FL210 for FL200; Approach called out one o'clock traffic below. The traffic was climbing and courses were converging. My First Officer; pilot monitoring; saw the traffic right as we received the resolution advisory (RA) to climb. He was 900 feet below us. The other traffic told ATC that he was responding to the RA and descending. The radio was congested and we told him we were responding to an RA as soon as we could as well. The instructions from ATC were opposite of what the RA was telling us to do vertically. He then gave us instructions to turn toward the other aircraft from a 210 heading to a 270 heading; which we elected not to do until we were clear of conflict. We complied with the RA and eventually leveled at FL220 before we got clear of the conflict. We then turned to a 290 heading and then a 310 heading per ATC's instructions and resumed our descent to FL200. This all happened very quickly.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

A B737-700 inbound to sfo; descending on the modesto 5 STAR to FL200 received and responded to TA and RA warnings with respect to opposite direction climbing traffic. While doing so they refused contradictory flight path corrections provided by ATC.