B717 captain reports TCAS RA approaching bwi at 5;000 ft and descends. ATC advises that there is no ...

Attributes
ACN	916478
Time
Date	201010
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	BWI.Airport
State Reference	MD
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B717 (Formerly MD-95)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude

Narrative:

We were level at 5;000 ft [and] approximately 24 miles from bwi. I received a descent RA. Traffic appeared on TCAS at 2 miles and 200 ft above us. I complied with the RA and notified ATC. ATC informed us that we were the third aircraft to get this warning in the last 30 minutes and felt it was a phantom target and [they] were trying to resolve the issue.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B717 Captain reports TCAS RA approaching BWI at 5;000 FT and descends. ATC advises that there is no traffic and that this is the third incident of false targets in the last 30 minutes.

Narrative: We were level at 5;000 FT [and] approximately 24 miles from BWI. I received a descent RA. Traffic appeared on TCAS at 2 miles and 200 FT above us. I complied with the RA and notified ATC. ATC informed us that we were the third aircraft to get this warning in the last 30 minutes and felt it was a phantom target and [they] were trying to resolve the issue.

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.

B717 captain reports TCAS RA approaching bwi at 5;000 ft and descends. ATC advises that there is no traffic and that this is the third incident of false targets in the last 30 minutes.