Narrative:

TCASII TA showed traffic at 10:30 O'clock position, and 500 ft above us descending at 3 mi. TCASII then went to RA showing traffic moving from 12 to 1 O'clock position, descending through our altitude at about 2 mi. RA advised: 'monitor vertical speed.' at the same time we saw the traffic visually and ATC advised us to climb immediately to 17000 ft. ATC admitted it was their error. Had we not seen the traffic visually, this could have been very close.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR MLG FLC RPTS THAT THEY HAD AN ENCOUNTER WITH AN ACFT THAT DSNDED THROUGH THEIR ALT. THE DEP CTLR ADMITTED TO THE ERROR.

Narrative: TCASII TA SHOWED TFC AT 10:30 O'CLOCK POS, AND 500 FT ABOVE US DSNDING AT 3 MI. TCASII THEN WENT TO RA SHOWING TFC MOVING FROM 12 TO 1 O'CLOCK POS, DSNDING THROUGH OUR ALT AT ABOUT 2 MI. RA ADVISED: 'MONITOR VERT SPD.' AT THE SAME TIME WE SAW THE TFC VISUALLY AND ATC ADVISED US TO CLB IMMEDIATELY TO 17000 FT. ATC ADMITTED IT WAS THEIR ERROR. HAD WE NOT SEEN THE TFC VISUALLY, THIS COULD HAVE BEEN VERY CLOSE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 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.