Cartman's twin,
What a load of ****e. The phrase "and maintain" will not prevent a TCAS RA. The rate of climb/descent is what causes a TCAS RA. Version 7 of TCAS has since alleviated nearly all spurious RAs.
As for acft in a busy terminal environment being given intermediate levels, wouldn't it be better to give the PIC an estimate of how long before they can receive further climb/descent. Eg. QFA25 climb to F110, expect further climb in 3 minutes.
refplus20,
"To" should be used. Eg, "descend 5000 feet". Does this mean descend to 5000 feet or does it mean descend 5000 feet (ie. descend from F150 to A100).
A controller should also say eg. "descend to two thousand five hundred feet" and not descend to two five zero zero feet" as happened in one fatal crash.
Communication in air traffic control must be clear, concise and simple. Standard phraseology is set down and pretty standard throughout the world for a reason. Little add ons like "and maintain" do not aid good communication between ATC and the PIC.
Last edited by DirtyPierre; 11th Jul 2005 at 21:26.