A flight crew on the bonvl 7 arrival was transitioned to the hhood RNAV but not given an arrival run...

Narrative:

Enroute to pdx. We had filed direct bonvl.bonvl 7 arrival into pdx. Approaching the pdx area we were recleared to the HHOOD1 arrival. As we established on the HHOOD1; we were recleared to descend via the arrival. The pilot not flying requested expected runway and the controller could not provide the information in detail. The pilot not flying also went to the ATIS and was given non specific information. He was trying to load the information into the navigation system for the arrival and wanted the runway information so he could complete the data entry. As pilot flying; upon crossing jotba I continued the descent below FL240. The pilot not flying questioned if this was a correct descent so I stopped the descent while we reviewed the procedure and agreed upon our position. (I believe the pilot not flying had become slightly unaware of our position on the arrival while trying to determine the anticipated arrival runway.) we discussed the situation and agreed that we did need to descend. The controller then queried if we were descending. As we descended toward hhood we felt we would not be able to comply with the altitude requirement; so we notified ATC. ATC then issued vectors and altitude changes for the balance of the flight.I believe the root cause was that we were given a completely different arrival with minimal time to properly review and brief the procedure. Contributing factors included: a confusing format for the arrival procedure in the STAR plate. The controller was unable to provide the requested runway information. Also; we have flown very few actual RNAV arrivals following the descent procedure. Coupling this with minimal time to transition from a very standard arrival to a much more demanding arrival. Also; once in the terminal area we still were never assigned a runway. Controller told us to proceed direct to a fix on the ILS 28R. We queried again regarding runway assignment and were then given 28R.basically given the situation; we should have refused to accept the hhood arrival. Also a clearer format for the arrival would be very helpful. We have spent considerable time as a crew reviewing this particular arrival as well [as] arrivals with descents in general to be better prepared in the future. We are also requesting additional training from our training provider on our scheduled recurrent training.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A flight crew on the BONVL 7 Arrival was transitioned to the HHOOD RNAV but not given an arrival runway at PDX. The crew was reluctant to descend because the FMS programming could not be completed without the Runway.

Narrative: Enroute to PDX. We had filed direct BONVL.BONVL 7 Arrival into PDX. Approaching the PDX area we were recleared to the HHOOD1 Arrival. As we established on the HHOOD1; we were recleared to descend via the arrival. The pilot not flying requested expected runway and the Controller could not provide the information in detail. The pilot not flying also went to the ATIS and was given non specific information. He was trying to load the information into the NAV System for the arrival and wanted the runway information so he could complete the data entry. As pilot flying; upon crossing JOTBA I continued the descent below FL240. The pilot not flying questioned if this was a correct descent so I stopped the descent while we reviewed the procedure and agreed upon our position. (I believe the pilot not flying had become slightly unaware of our position on the arrival while trying to determine the anticipated arrival runway.) We discussed the situation and agreed that we did need to descend. The Controller then queried if we were descending. As we descended toward HHOOD we felt we would not be able to comply with the altitude requirement; so we notified ATC. ATC then issued vectors and altitude changes for the balance of the flight.I believe the root cause was that we were given a completely different arrival with minimal time to properly review and brief the procedure. Contributing factors included: A confusing format for the arrival procedure in the STAR Plate. The Controller was unable to provide the requested runway information. Also; we have flown very few actual RNAV Arrivals following the Descent Procedure. Coupling this with minimal time to transition from a very standard arrival to a much more demanding arrival. Also; once in the Terminal area we still were never assigned a runway. Controller told us to proceed direct to a fix on the ILS 28R. We queried again regarding runway assignment and were then given 28R.Basically given the situation; we should have refused to accept the HHOOD arrival. Also a clearer format for the Arrival would be very helpful. We have spent considerable time as a crew reviewing this particular arrival as well [as] arrivals with descents in general to be better prepared in the future. We are also requesting additional training from our Training Provider on our scheduled recurrent training.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1095873
Time
Date	201306
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZSE.ARTCC
State Reference	WA
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Light Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR HHOOD
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 70 Flight Crew Total 8580 Flight Crew Type 100
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 22.5 Flight Crew Total 7200 Flight Crew Type 76
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A flight crew on the bonvl 7 arrival was transitioned to the hhood RNAV but not given an arrival runway at pdx. The crew was reluctant to descend because the FMS programming could not be completed without the runway.