Originally Posted by
Lookleft
The pilot was not given a clearance to descend to 1000', he was advised that if he wanted to transit the CTZ VFR he would have to descend to 1000'
What the controller expected and what the pilot understood seem to have been different. I am suggesting that this should have been explored more in the report.
A full transcript of the communications would be useful. The communications that are included are short excerpts out of context so it is hard to be sure what was meant. Listing the events in sequence with timestamps would be useful.
The airspace steps that the pilot wanted to transit were Class D below Class C. He was told to request clearance from the Class D controller.
It appears he had 2 way communication and wasn't told to stay OCTA, so technically had clearance to enter Class D (but the controller may not have expected that).
He didn't receive tracking instructions from ATC, so he was REQUIRED to track according to his request. The controller said clearance was available at or below 1000 feet. The pilot read back "at or below 1000 feet" i.e. he appeared to interpret that as an instruction, and began to descend. He didn't want to descend, which supports the idea that he viewed it as an instruction.
Misunderstandings between pilots and ATC are one of the more useful areas to investigate, because there are often things that can be changed.