B737-300 first officer set up the FMC; but failed to set the MCP for a crossing restriction on desce...

Attributes
ACN	1001102
Time
Date	201203
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZKC.ARTCC
State Reference	KS
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	MCP
Person 1
Function	First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 369
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Narrative:

We were given clearance to cross akbar at 28;000 ft. I set the FMC but failed to set the MCP. We received the question; 'are you going to make the restriction?' I looked at the FMC and mistook the distance to the fix as distance to TOD. We started the descent knowing it was going to be close; so we asked for a vector. The controller said no problem and gave us a new frequency. On the new frequency; the new controller; prior to akbar; gave us a new altitude to descend to. It was odd there was no 'reset MCP altitude' or 'unable to make altitude restriction.'

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-300 First Officer set up the FMC; but failed to set the MCP for a crossing restriction on descent. Failure to make the crossing restriction was attributed to mistaking FMC distance to the crossing fix for the distance to Top of Descent.

Narrative: We were given clearance to cross AKBAR at 28;000 FT. I set the FMC but failed to set the MCP. We received the question; 'Are you going to make the restriction?' I looked at the FMC and mistook the distance to the fix as distance to TOD. We started the descent knowing it was going to be close; so we asked for a vector. The Controller said no problem and gave us a new frequency. On the new frequency; the new Controller; prior to AKBAR; gave us a new altitude to descend to. It was odd there was no 'reset MCP altitude' or 'unable to make altitude restriction.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

B737-300 first officer set up the FMC; but failed to set the MCP for a crossing restriction on descent. Failure to make the crossing restriction was attributed to mistaking FMC distance to the crossing fix for the distance to top of descent.