A B717 first officer selected the vertical speed mode in order to increase climb rate as requested b...

Attributes
ACN	1005414
Time
Date	201204
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B717 (Formerly MD-95)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Autopilot
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Speed All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Narrative:

I was the pilot not flying; and the first officer was the pilot flying. On the airway northbound; we had been cleared to FL330; and were climbing through FL310. I was accessing the FMS for weather and status of the flight; when I noticed on my pfd's FMA that the 'low speed protection' was annunciated as was the 'mct thrust.' I noted that the climb was in 'vertical speed' mode. I did not recall the pilot not flying advising me that we were in 'vertical speed' mode. I took control of the fcp and lowered the pitch down such that the mach speed accelerated above the lower amber footer; and re-engaged prof. We had slowed to five KTS inside the lower footer; and were still 30-40 KTS from the red footer. No sticker or stick pusher was noted. Be more attentive when executing duties of pilot not flying; and ensure that both pilots know what vertical speed mode we are in at all times.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B717 First Officer selected the VERT SPD mode in order to increase climb rate as requested by ATC; then got distracted; so that the airspeed decayed and the LOW SPEED protection engaged a which added MCT power.

Narrative: I was the pilot not flying; and the First Officer was the pilot flying. On the airway northbound; we had been cleared to FL330; and were climbing through FL310. I was accessing the FMS for weather and status of the flight; when I noticed on my PFD's FMA that the 'Low Speed Protection' was annunciated as was the 'MCT Thrust.' I noted that the climb was in 'VERT SPD' mode. I did not recall the pilot not flying advising me that we were in 'VERT SPD' mode. I took control of the FCP and lowered the pitch down such that the Mach speed accelerated above the lower amber footer; and re-engaged Prof. We had slowed to five KTS inside the lower footer; and were still 30-40 KTS from the red footer. No sticker or stick pusher was noted. Be more attentive when executing duties of pilot not flying; and ensure that both pilots know what VERT SPD mode we are in at all times.

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.

A B717 first officer selected the vertical speed mode in order to increase climb rate as requested by ATC; then got distracted; so that the airspeed decayed and the low speed protection engaged a which added mct power.