Narrative:

Nearing fak on the dupont 4 arrival at 35;000 ft at xa:48; washington center advised holding at fak. Instructions were 'hold as published; efc xb:20Z; maintain 35;000 ft.' we read back those instructions. While trying to enter the hold information into the FMS using the arrival plate; it was noticed that there was no published hold. At approximately xa:52; we inquired ATC as to what the published hold was as it was not written. The first officer inquired 'is it the 042 degree radial inbound; right turns?' ATC reply was 'affirmative 042.' at fak; entering hold at xa:54; the first officer told ATC; we were entering the hold at 35;000 ft. As to which he replied;'roger.' upon starting our right (standard) turn; we noticed traffic at our 4-5 o'clock position; same altitude that may have become a traffic issue if not resolved. The first officer queried ATC about traffic at our 12 o'clock position. During his transmission; we received an RA traffic advisory; which was to descend. I initiated a descending right turn away from traffic. After the RA and the first officer's transmission; ATC came back with; ' aircraft X; traffic 12 o' clock; descend to 34;000 ft; you were supposed to turn left!!' we had the traffic in sight the entire time; and complied with the RA in a matter of seconds. We finished our first; initial right turn; then entered the hold again in left turns. When the first officer inquired again as to what way we were supposed to turn; he said; 'it's on the hi charts.' the problem with this is; we were on an arrival into phl; which there was no published hold. An easy fix to this problem would have been when the first officer asked about the hold initially; ATC should have been cued in as to our confusion. The controller was noticeably overloaded with traffic and vip movement in the area; working hard to scramble aircraft with headings; holding instructions; and more times than not; read backs and check in's were missed because of blocked transmissions or the controller was on the 'land line.' on the dupont 4 arrival; which we were starting at fak; there is no published hold. I suggest publishing the hold on the plate because when we transition to an arrival segment; we are no longer relying on hi charts. The next fix on the arrival is ott; which has a depicted hold on the arrival. The hold is a right turn hold; and ATC was clearing aircraft to 'hold as published.' jon inquired again after the incident at fak as to what 'as published' was because; he had pulled out the hi chart and it is published there as left turns; which is what he wanted. If he hadn't inquired; this mistake could have happened yet again. So; even though we were on the arrival; ATC expects us to be following hi charts. If that's the case; the high altitude arrivals should have the same published holds as their corresponding hi charts do and they need to be consistent because of the ott hold; arrival is right turns; hi chart is left turns.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CE680 crew is issued holding at FAK as depicted but cannot find the hold on the DPNT4 arrival. The crew is unable to resolve the holding pattern prior to arriving at FAK due to frequency congestion. A right turn is initiated which is not correct resulting in a TCAS RA.

Narrative: Nearing FAK on the DUPONT 4 Arrival AT 35;000 FT at XA:48; Washington Center advised holding at FAK. Instructions were 'hold as published; EFC XB:20Z; maintain 35;000 FT.' We read back those instructions. While trying to enter the hold information into the FMS using the arrival plate; it was noticed that there was no Published Hold. At approximately XA:52; we inquired ATC as to what the published hold was as it was not written. The First Officer inquired 'is it the 042 degree radial inbound; right turns?' ATC reply was 'affirmative 042.' At FAK; entering hold at XA:54; the First Officer told ATC; we were entering the hold at 35;000 FT. As to which he replied;'roger.' Upon starting our right (standard) turn; we noticed traffic at our 4-5 o'clock position; same altitude that may have become a traffic issue if not resolved. The First Officer queried ATC about traffic at our 12 o'clock position. During his transmission; we received an RA traffic advisory; which was to descend. I initiated a descending right turn away from traffic. After the RA and the First Officer's transmission; ATC came back with; ' Aircraft X; traffic 12 o' clock; descend to 34;000 FT; you were supposed to turn left!!' We had the traffic in sight the entire time; and complied with the RA in a matter of seconds. We finished our first; initial right turn; then entered the hold again in left turns. When the First Officer inquired again as to what way we were supposed to turn; he said; 'it's on the HI Charts.' The problem with this is; we were on an arrival into PHL; which there was no published hold. An easy fix to this problem would have been when the First Officer asked about the hold initially; ATC should have been cued in as to our confusion. The Controller was noticeably overloaded with traffic and VIP movement in the area; working hard to scramble aircraft with headings; holding instructions; and more times than not; read backs and check in's were missed because of blocked transmissions or the Controller was on the 'land line.' On the Dupont 4 Arrival; which we were starting at FAK; there is no published hold. I suggest publishing the hold on the plate because when we transition to an arrival segment; we are no longer relying on HI charts. The next fix on the arrival is OTT; which has a depicted hold on the arrival. The hold is a right turn hold; and ATC was clearing aircraft to 'hold as published.' Jon inquired again after the incident at FAK as to what 'as published' was because; he had pulled out the HI chart and it is published there as left turns; which is what he wanted. If he hadn't inquired; this mistake could have happened yet again. So; even though we were on the arrival; ATC expects us to be following HI Charts. If that's the case; the high altitude arrivals should have the same published holds as their corresponding HI charts do and they need to be consistent because of the OTT hold; arrival is right turns; HI Chart is left turns.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.