Flight Operations Safety Bulletin

Date: August 30, 2001

Recently, one of our turboprop aircraft departing STL, made the initial call to departure control and advised "climbing to 5000". At STL 5000 is a jet initial altitude, not a turboprop initial altitude. The controller assigned the aircraft 3000 feet and then asked his supervisor to check with clearance delivery to see what altitude they had assigned. To make a long story short, the aircraft was assigned 3000 feet and the readback consisted of only the transponder code.

In the interest of safety both the Captain and the First Officer should agree on the clearance and altitude assigned. Most of you fly the same routes everyday. If ATC issues you a clearance that is different from the usual route or altitude make sure you know why this was done. Remember that the Captain must hear ATC issue the clearance. Lastly if there is any question, readback the full clearance not just the transponder code.

Readback - Hearback errors are on the increase nationwide. It takes everyone's effort, both pilots and controllers to make the ATC system operate safely and efficiently. A little extra diligence on everyone's part will keep Read back‑Hearback occurrences at a minimum.