37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Attributes | |
ACN | 1172798 |
Time | |
Date | 201405 |
Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
Place | |
Locale Reference | DEN.Airport |
State Reference | CO |
Environment | |
Flight Conditions | VMC |
Light | Daylight |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200) |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
Route In Use | Visual Approach |
Flight Plan | IFR |
Component | |
Aircraft Component | MCP |
Person 1 | |
Function | Pilot Not Flying First Officer |
Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
Events | |
Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
We were on a visual approach to runway 16L. I was the pilot not flying and the captain was flying. We had been cleared for a visual approach and the captain set 7;000 ft in the preselect. We were about 10 miles away from the airport. I could see the PAPI indications and knew that we were low. I also saw that he had set 7;000 ft and knew that he would level off at that altitude. Then when the glideslope came in we would configure and continue the descent. We never briefed it; but it's a relatively common way to fly the visual approach. At this point I looked out of my window to scan for traffic on runway 16R. The aircraft banked to the left as we intercepted the localizer and still looking out the window I noticed that we were getting pretty low to the ground. When I looked back ahead I noticed we were way too low on the PAPI's and a glance at the RA showed about 1;000 ft above the ground. We both caught it simultaneously and the captain added power and returned to the glideslope. It turns out; when the aircraft intercepted the localizer the captain mistook the 'captured' indication on the fcp to mean that it had captured 7;000 ft. He then rolled the altitude preselect to 10;000 ft so he could begin the descent when ready. As a result the aircraft continued the descent. I never caught it either because I was looking out the side window. Root cause was a misinterpretation of the automation that went unnoticed by both the captain and I until the aircraft reached about 1;000 ft AGL. Contributing to the event was distraction with me looking out the window for traffic. In the future; we both agreed to verify every time the fcp captures something. I also plan on being more focused on the flight profile. Scanning for traffic is fine; but not if it results in a loss of situational awareness.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: CRJ200 reports getting very low during a visual approach with the Captain flying due to lack of attention by both pilots.
Narrative: We were on a visual approach to Runway 16L. I was the pilot not flying and the Captain was flying. We had been cleared for a visual approach and the Captain set 7;000 FT in the preselect. We were about 10 miles away from the airport. I could see the PAPI indications and knew that we were low. I also saw that he had set 7;000 FT and knew that he would level off at that altitude. Then when the glideslope came in we would configure and continue the descent. We never briefed it; but it's a relatively common way to fly the visual approach. At this point I looked out of my window to scan for traffic on Runway 16R. The aircraft banked to the left as we intercepted the localizer and still looking out the window I noticed that we were getting pretty low to the ground. When I looked back ahead I noticed we were way too low on the PAPI's and a glance at the RA showed about 1;000 FT above the ground. We both caught it simultaneously and the Captain added power and returned to the glideslope. It turns out; when the aircraft intercepted the localizer the Captain mistook the 'captured' indication on the FCP to mean that it had captured 7;000 FT. He then rolled the altitude preselect to 10;000 FT so he could begin the descent when ready. As a result the aircraft continued the descent. I never caught it either because I was looking out the side window. Root cause was a misinterpretation of the automation that went unnoticed by both the Captain and I until the aircraft reached about 1;000 FT AGL. Contributing to the event was distraction with me looking out the window for traffic. In the future; we both agreed to verify every time the FCP captures something. I also plan on being more focused on the flight profile. Scanning for traffic is fine; but not if it results in a loss of situational awareness.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.