EMB145 flight crew has an near midair collision during cruise.

Attributes
ACN	717087
Time
Date	200611
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	navaid : flm.vor
State Reference	IN
Altitude	msl single value : 34000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zid.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 145 ER&LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	other
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zid.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	cruise : level
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	717087
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Events
Anomaly	conflict : nmac non adherence : required legal separation non adherence : far
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment : tcas other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance flight crew : took evasive action
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Miss Distance	vertical : 345
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Human Performance Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance

Narrative:

Was with ZID and told to climb to FL340. Both captain and first officer heard FL340. First officer read back maintenance FL340. ATC then said verify FL330. Said negative maintaining FL340 assigned. Told to immediately descend to FL330 followed by TCAS RA to climb. Other aircraft RA was also activated and then started to descend. We finally pitched other aircraft visually. Made a right turn to avoid traffic. After handoff to next sector I asked for ZID phone number. Captain called and we were told it was controller error and action was being taken. The airspace was saturated and I believe controller was over-tasked.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB145 FLT CREW HAS AN NMAC DURING CRUISE.

Narrative: WAS WITH ZID AND TOLD TO CLB TO FL340. BOTH CAPT AND FO HEARD FL340. FO READ BACK MAINT FL340. ATC THEN SAID VERIFY FL330. SAID NEGATIVE MAINTAINING FL340 ASSIGNED. TOLD TO IMMEDIATELY DSND TO FL330 FOLLOWED BY TCAS RA TO CLB. OTHER ACFT RA WAS ALSO ACTIVATED AND THEN STARTED TO DSND. WE FINALLY PITCHED OTHER ACFT VISUALLY. MADE A R TURN TO AVOID TFC. AFTER HDOF TO NEXT SECTOR I ASKED FOR ZID PHONE NUMBER. CAPT CALLED AND WE WERE TOLD IT WAS CTLR ERROR AND ACTION WAS BEING TAKEN. THE AIRSPACE WAS SATURATED AND I BELIEVE CTLR WAS OVER-TASKED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.