A captain and first officer report that after leveling off on initial approach; engine thrust did no...

Attributes
ACN	1066450
Time
Date	201302
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-11
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Throttle/Power Level
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 125 Flight Crew Total 9294 Flight Crew Type 1651
Person 2
Function	First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 160 Flight Crew Total 2918 Flight Crew Type 2574
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Narrative:

Descending out of FL300 with an initial level off at FL180; aircraft leveled off as was set on flight control panel (fcp). Aircraft was in profile mode. Since we were deviating around weather and were further away from our next position on the arrival; I selected a higher speed on the fcp (290 KTS) than what was being commanded by the FMS. Aircraft slowed through the set speed on fcp with no response from the engines. Aircraft was in the thrust mode with autothrottles engaged. Airspeed kept on decreasing; so we physically advanced the throttles forward with no response from engines. Ignition override; as well as engine anti-ice was turned on. Throttles were cycled a couple of times before we eventually got a response from the engines. Operation of the engines beyond this point in time was normal. Aircraft then accelerated to the set speed on the fcp. There was weather in the area but we were never in clouds throughout the descent before this event took place. This sequence of events lasted about 30 seconds with a loss of approximately 30 to 40 KTS. Autopilot-1 and autothrottles were always engaged.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Captain and First Officer report that after leveling off on initial approach; engine thrust did not respond when they physically advanced engine throttles several times on their MD-11 aircraft to correct for decreasing airspeed. Aircraft was in Thrust Mode with Autothrottles and Autopilot engaged.

Narrative: Descending out of FL300 with an initial level off at FL180; aircraft leveled off as was set on Flight Control Panel (FCP). Aircraft was in Profile Mode. Since we were deviating around weather and were further away from our next position on the arrival; I selected a higher speed on the FCP (290 KTS) than what was being commanded by the FMS. Aircraft slowed through the set speed on FCP with no response from the engines. Aircraft was in the Thrust Mode with Autothrottles engaged. Airspeed kept on decreasing; so we physically advanced the throttles forward with no response from engines. Ignition override; as well as Engine Anti-Ice was turned on. Throttles were cycled a couple of times before we eventually got a response from the engines. Operation of the engines beyond this point in time was normal. Aircraft then accelerated to the set speed on the FCP. There was weather in the area but we were never in clouds throughout the descent before this event took place. This sequence of events lasted about 30 seconds with a loss of approximately 30 to 40 KTS. Autopilot-1 and Autothrottles were always engaged.

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.