MD80 flight crew descended in response to a TCASII RA of an unknown aircraft 400 ft above them and closing without any advisory from ARTCC controller.

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Attributes
ACN	519805
Time
Date	200108
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	navaid : ttt.vor
State Reference	TX
Altitude	msl bound lower : 15700 msl bound upper : 16000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zfw.artcc tracon : n90.tracon
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	other
Flight Phase	cruise : enroute altitude change
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zfw.artcc
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	cruise : level
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : multi engine pilot : instrument pilot : flight engineer pilot : commercial pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 7000 flight time type : 1500
ASRS Report	519805
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Events
Anomaly	conflict : airborne less severe other anomaly other
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment : tcas other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	flight crew : took evasive action
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Miss Distance	horizontal : 1400 vertical : 400
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance ATC Human Performance
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

'Heard' TCASII 'descend' resolution. Went to 15700 ft MSL. Aircraft above was showing +400 ft above us (was not at 16500 ft). Center had not called out any traffic. Did not know if he was descending, VFR, IFR, or what. Center was indignant that we had descended with 'heard' descend on TCASII. ZFW should have called this traffic as a 'courtesy' since it was so close and we had no clue as to what it was doing or type of flight plan even if it was VFR.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 FLC DSNDED IN RESPONSE TO A TCASII RA OF AN UNKNOWN ACFT 400 FT ABOVE THEM AND CLOSING WITHOUT ANY ADVISORY FROM ARTCC CTLR.

Narrative: 'HEARD' TCASII 'DSND' RESOLUTION. WENT TO 15700 FT MSL. ACFT ABOVE WAS SHOWING +400 FT ABOVE US (WAS NOT AT 16500 FT). CTR HAD NOT CALLED OUT ANY TFC. DID NOT KNOW IF HE WAS DSNDING, VFR, IFR, OR WHAT. CTR WAS INDIGNANT THAT WE HAD DSNDED WITH 'HEARD' DSND ON TCASII. ZFW SHOULD HAVE CALLED THIS TFC AS A 'COURTESY' SINCE IT WAS SO CLOSE AND WE HAD NO CLUE AS TO WHAT IT WAS DOING OR TYPE OF FLT PLAN EVEN IF IT WAS VFR.

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.