Saudia Flight 366 TCAS Resolution Advisory in Malta ACC

Incident Overview and Location Details On 17 August 2021 at 11:01:30 UTC, Saudia Flight 366 (SVA366) was operating in the Malta Air Traffic Control (ACC) area. The aircraft, identified in the source as a B77W with registration HZAK26, had been released from Tunis Control while climbing to FL230 and approaching the SONAK checkpoint. The flight had requested FL370 as its cruising level. ## Sequence of Events and ATC Clearances SVA366 was initially cleared to climb to FL310 due to restricting reciprocal traffic, identified as Kuwaiti Air Force 3209 (KAF3209), a C17 with registration 30001A, maintaining FL320. The flight crew correctly read back this clearance. After passing this first traffic, SVA366 was cleared to climb to FL330, with the restricting reciprocal traffic now being Kuwaiti Air Force 3211 (KAF3211), a C17 with registration 30002A, maintaining FL340. The crew again correctly read back the instruction. ## TCAS Resolution Advisory and Outcome While reaching FL329, SVA366 reported a TCAS Resolution Advisory (RA) and descended to FL326, requesting information about traffic above. Malta Radar acknowledged the RA and provided information about the restricting reciprocal traffic at FL340, which was 1,000 feet above the cleared level for SVA366. The flight then reported resuming as per clearance and climbed back to FL330. ## Investigation Findings and Conclusions The investigation concluded that the ATC clearances issued by Malta Radar were correct, and the readbacks by SVA366 were also correct. Minimum vertical separation of 1,000 feet was never infringed, and neither STCA nor MTCD alerts were triggered. Mode C readouts indicated that KAF3211 was maintaining FL340 while SVA366 was passing through FL328 during its climb to FL330 at a rate of 1,600 feet per minute. The investigation was completed on 28 August 2021, with no ATM ground system contribution identified.