Originally Posted by
esreverlluf
This thread scares me! That people would even think of changing cruise level without a clearance beggars belief. That area is notorious for "patchy" comms and if people are going to take it on themselves to change levels, then it's just asking for trouble.
As noted by the second poster in this thread, that was precisely the accusation inf the mid-air collision in Brasil of the Embraer biz-jet and the 737, that the biz jet was at fault for *not* changing FL after after a course change while not in Communication. Granted, the Brasilian ATC was in finger-pointing mode ...but still, the accusation was made officially.