Narrative:

On climb out of ewr, ny departure gave us a climb clearance to 17000 ft, then switched us to ZNY. Over col VOR in a slow climb through 13000 ft we received first a TCASII TA followed by an RA to 'monitor vertical speed.' we leveled off at 13000 ft and traffic cleared above us. We informed center of the RA and he told us that he was not talking to the other aircraft, an MD80. He said the aircraft was on another frequency/controller. He checked and stated that we were, in fact, given the climb to 17000 ft and were not in error. Possible controller error. Supplemental information from acn 476077: were given the climb clearance from new york departure to expedite climb through 12000 ft and climb to 17000 ft at 250 KIAS. After receiving the TCASII alert we saw the intruder aircraft at our 9 O'clock position and closing, also climbing as we were. After following the RA command to descend, the traffic, an MD80, passed behind and above us, having apparently departed another new york area airport. We asked the center controller to confirm that we had been cleared to 17000 ft. He confirmed that we had been.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CLBING B737-200 IS LEVELED TO AVOID TFC ABOVE AND XING THAT IS NOT ON FREQ. A CLB THROUGH OCCUPIED ALT WAS AVERTED BY TCASII TFC ALERT OVER COL, NJ.

Narrative: ON CLBOUT OF EWR, NY DEP GAVE US A CLB CLRNC TO 17000 FT, THEN SWITCHED US TO ZNY. OVER COL VOR IN A SLOW CLB THROUGH 13000 FT WE RECEIVED FIRST A TCASII TA FOLLOWED BY AN RA TO 'MONITOR VERT SPD.' WE LEVELED OFF AT 13000 FT AND TFC CLRED ABOVE US. WE INFORMED CTR OF THE RA AND HE TOLD US THAT HE WAS NOT TALKING TO THE OTHER ACFT, AN MD80. HE SAID THE ACFT WAS ON ANOTHER FREQ/CTLR. HE CHKED AND STATED THAT WE WERE, IN FACT, GIVEN THE CLB TO 17000 FT AND WERE NOT IN ERROR. POSSIBLE CTLR ERROR. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 476077: WERE GIVEN THE CLB CLRNC FROM NEW YORK DEP TO EXPEDITE CLB THROUGH 12000 FT AND CLB TO 17000 FT AT 250 KIAS. AFTER RECEIVING THE TCASII ALERT WE SAW THE INTRUDER ACFT AT OUR 9 O'CLOCK POS AND CLOSING, ALSO CLBING AS WE WERE. AFTER FOLLOWING THE RA COMMAND TO DSND, THE TFC, AN MD80, PASSED BEHIND AND ABOVE US, HAVING APPARENTLY DEPARTED ANOTHER NEW YORK AREA ARPT. WE ASKED THE CTR CTLR TO CONFIRM THAT WE HAD BEEN CLRED TO 17000 FT. HE CONFIRMED THAT WE HAD BEEN.

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.