ARTCC controller questions descent when awareness of the actual assigned altitude is lost.

Attributes
ACN	482070
Time
Date	200008
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : mci.airport
State Reference	MO
Altitude	msl bound lower : 32200 msl bound upper : 33000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zkc.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent : vacating altitude
Route In Use	arrival star : tyger.tyger 4
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zkc.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 210 flight time total : 8300 flight time type : 500
ASRS Report	482070
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : published procedure
Independent Detector	other controllerb other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	controller : issued advisory controller : issued new clearance
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Human Performance
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Operational Error

Narrative:

Cleared direct to tyger intersection reference tyger 4 arrival at mci at 130 degree bearing, 120 NM. Cleared by ZKC to descend from FL350 to FL310. Passing FL322, controller asked to verify altitude and told us we were cleared only to FL330. We rapidly corrected to FL330 and told the controller she had cleared us to FL310. Deviation was verified by another company aircraft as a controller error.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ARTCC CTLR QUESTIONS DSCNT WHEN AWARENESS OF THE ACTUAL ASSIGNED ALT IS LOST.

Narrative: CLRED DIRECT TO TYGER INTXN REF TYGER 4 ARR AT MCI AT 130 DEG BEARING, 120 NM. CLRED BY ZKC TO DSND FROM FL350 TO FL310. PASSING FL322, CTLR ASKED TO VERIFY ALT AND TOLD US WE WERE CLRED ONLY TO FL330. WE RAPIDLY CORRECTED TO FL330 AND TOLD THE CTLR SHE HAD CLRED US TO FL310. DEV WAS VERIFIED BY ANOTHER COMPANY ACFT AS A CTLR ERROR.

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.