A C90 crew read back a center vector clearance to 3;500 ft so while descending got a low altitude al...

Attributes
ACN	994070
Time
Date	201202
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	King Air C90 E90
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 2265 Flight Crew Type 785
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

Narrative:

While [we were] cruising at 10;000 ft MSL; contacted center for vectors to final for the ILS to runway 5. Both flying and non-flying pilots thought the controller gave a heading of 305 degrees and a descent to 3;500 ft. Clearance was repeated back to the controller with no correction to the clearance by the controller. Aircraft was turned to 305 degrees and a descent started to 3;500 ft. Approaching our assigned altitude the controller informed us that our assigned altitude was 4;200 ft. Low altitude alert! All too common case of miss communication; if a repeat of a clearance is required by the pilot then the controller should verify the clearance as correct or incorrect.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C90 crew read back a Center vector clearance to 3;500 FT so while descending got a low altitude alert and ATC stated they were cleared to 4;200 FT but had not corrected the pilot's 3;500 FT readback error.

Narrative: While [we were] cruising at 10;000 FT MSL; contacted Center for vectors to final for the ILS to Runway 5. Both flying and non-flying pilots thought the Controller gave a heading of 305 degrees and a descent to 3;500 FT. Clearance was repeated back to the Controller with no correction to the clearance by the Controller. Aircraft was turned to 305 degrees and a descent started to 3;500 FT. Approaching our assigned altitude the Controller informed us that our assigned altitude was 4;200 FT. Low altitude alert! All too common case of miss communication; if a repeat of a clearance is required by the pilot then the Controller should verify the clearance as correct or incorrect.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

A C90 crew read back a center vector clearance to 3;500 ft so while descending got a low altitude alert and ATC stated they were cleared to 4;200 ft but had not corrected the pilot's 3;500 ft readback error.