20090210046819I

Incident · No damage

FAA incident report · Boeing 767-259 · Oceanic Airspac · February 10, 2009

Date: February 10, 2009 · 16:37 local
Place: Oceanic Airspac
Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
Operating rules: Foreign air carrier (Part 129)
Operator: ANCF
Damage: No damage
Aircraft: N986AN
Reported as: Boeing 767-259
Reported engine: Pratt & Whitney PW4000 series
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificates: Airline transport, unknown or foreign certificate
Pilot’s flight hours: 15,558 total3,011 in this make and model205 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

New york Oceanic air traffic control issued avianca flight 019 an enroute clearance to climb and maintain 38,000 feet (FL380). Avianca flight 019 accepted the climb clearance to FL380. Avianca flight 019 elected not to immediately comply with the accepted air traffic control clearance and instead remained level at FL370 due to the strong headwinds they were encountering at the time. Avianca did not notify ATC of the delay or request a deviation from the recently accepted change of altitude clearance. Pilot stated that since the clearance did not contain a time restriction, he assumed that compliance with the climb clearance was at his discretion.

As the FAA filed it

NEW YORK OCEANIC AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL ISSUED AVIANCA FLIGHT 019 AN ENROUTE CLEARANCE TO CLIMB AND MAINTAIN 38,000 FEET (FL380). AVIANCA FLIGHT 019 ACCEPTED THE CLIMB CLEARANCE TO FL380. AVIANCA FLIGHT 019 ELECTED NOT TO IMMEDIATELY COMPLY WITH THE ACCEPTED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL CLEARANCE AND INSTEAD REMAINED LEVEL AT FL370 DUE TO THE STRONG HEADWINDS THEY WERE ENCOUNTERING AT THE TIME. AVIANCA DID NOT NOTIFY ATC OF THE DELAY OR REQUEST A DEVIATION FROM THE RECENTLY ACCEPTED CHANGE OF ALTITUDE CLEARANCE. PILOT STATED THAT SINCE THE CLEARANCE DID NOT CONTAIN A TIME RESTRICTION, HE ASSUMED THAT COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLIMB CLEARANCE WAS AT HIS DISCRETION.