Descending through FL180 while on course and following their descent clearance to 16;000 ft; a B747-...

Attributes
ACN	953370
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	N90.TRACON
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B747-400
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR KINGSTON 8
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude
Miss Distance	Vertical 400

Narrative:

We were in radar contact in new york airspace on the kingston 8 arrival into jfk. Prior to the lendy fix ATC issued clearance to turn to heading 170 and maintain FL190. We then received clearance to descend from FL190 to 16;000 ft. While passing 17;800 ft we received a momentary TA followed by an RA alert showing traffic -500 below us. We executed the RA maneuver per company procedures and climbed 800 to 1;000 ft while notifying ATC. The RA traffic displayed showed the traffic as close as -400 while executing the RA maneuver. After notifying ATC; they seemed nonchalant about the issue and advised us then that it was VFR traffic at 17;500. Approximately 5 minutes later; ATC asked numerous other aircraft on the frequency if they had received an RA; all that we heard replied with no.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Descending through FL180 while on course and following their descent clearance to 16;000 FT; a B747-400 flight crew received a TCAS RA generated by a VFR aircraft at 17;500 FT.

Narrative: We were in radar contact in New York airspace on the KINGSTON 8 arrival into JFK. Prior to the LENDY fix ATC issued clearance to turn to Heading 170 and maintain FL190. We then received clearance to descend from FL190 to 16;000 FT. While passing 17;800 FT we received a momentary TA followed by an RA alert showing traffic -500 below us. We executed the RA maneuver per company procedures and climbed 800 to 1;000 FT while notifying ATC. The RA traffic displayed showed the traffic as close as -400 while executing the RA maneuver. After notifying ATC; they seemed nonchalant about the issue and advised us then that it was VFR traffic at 17;500. Approximately 5 minutes later; ATC asked numerous other aircraft on the frequency if they had received an RA; all that we heard replied with no.

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.

Descending through FL180 while on course and following their descent clearance to 16;000 ft; a B747-400 flight crew received a TCAS RA generated by a VFR aircraft at 17;500 ft.