B737 flight crew encounters scattered clouds during a visual approach requiring ILS information whic...

Narrative:

We received an initial clearance for a right turn to 020 degree heading; maintain 2;000 until established; cleared for the ILS runway 04 approach at hou. The captain was the PF (pilot flying) and established the aircraft on a 020 heading. At this point; we were fully configured and had an approximate tailwind of 28 knots on the base. The controller asked us to adjust our heading to 010 degrees for the intercept. Upon looking back inside from attempting to acquire the proceeding aircraft; I recognized we had flown through the localizer and asked the captain to come right to intercept the final. The autopilot and autothrottles were disengaged to facilitate a timely course correction. In recognizing the error of no course capture; it was realized the #1 VHF navigation was not tuned to the localizer frequency but the #2 VHF navigation was tuned. As the #1 VHF radio was tuned we descended through the glideslope; the deviation was noted and the PF corrected promptly. The PF established us on the localizer and glideslope promptly and made an uneventful landing. The weather was reporting VMC on the ATIS and we had the field visually on downwind and final; however; due to approaching weather and previous weather at the field we should have briefed an instrument (ILS approach). As the pm (pilot monitoring) I did not verify the #1 VHF navigation set properly for the localizer and failed to catch this until the aircraft flew through the localizer and commanded a right turn to re-intercept the final. Momentarily heads down to tune the ILS frequency and with a fully configured airplane we now allowed the aircraft to descend below the glideslope but trapped our error and adjusted the flight path as needed. The number one takeaway is to ensure both VHF navs are properly set prior to the approach and ensure electronic guidance is always available to the maximum extent possible. The late tuning of the #1 VHF navigation put the crew collectively behind. Although deliberate and positive corrections were being applied and the airport and flight path were VMC; once the error was recognized it would have been more prudent to command a go-around as soon as deviations from prescribed parameters were not satisfied.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew encounters scattered clouds during a visual approach requiring ILS information which had not been tuned in on the Captain's side. An overshoot and descent below glidepath both occur while the ILS is tuned in; resulting in an unstabilized approach.

Narrative: We received an initial clearance for a right turn to 020 degree heading; maintain 2;000 until established; cleared for the ILS Runway 04 Approach at HOU. The Captain was the PF (pilot flying) and established the aircraft on a 020 heading. At this point; we were fully configured and had an approximate tailwind of 28 knots on the base. The Controller asked us to adjust our heading to 010 degrees for the intercept. Upon looking back inside from attempting to acquire the proceeding aircraft; I recognized we had flown through the LOC and asked the Captain to come right to intercept the final. The autopilot and autothrottles were disengaged to facilitate a timely course correction. In recognizing the error of no course capture; it was realized the #1 VHF NAV was not tuned to the LOC frequency but the #2 VHF NAV was tuned. As the #1 VHF radio was tuned we descended through the glideslope; the deviation was noted and the PF corrected promptly. The PF established us on the LOC and glideslope promptly and made an uneventful landing. The weather was reporting VMC on the ATIS and we had the field visually on downwind and final; however; due to approaching weather and previous weather at the field we should have briefed an instrument (ILS approach). As the PM (pilot monitoring) I did not verify the #1 VHF NAV set properly for the LOC and failed to catch this until the aircraft flew through the LOC and commanded a right turn to re-intercept the final. Momentarily heads down to tune the ILS frequency and with a fully configured airplane we now allowed the aircraft to descend below the glideslope but trapped our error and adjusted the flight path as needed. The number one takeaway is to ensure both VHF NAVs are properly set prior to the approach and ensure electronic guidance is always available to the maximum extent possible. The late tuning of the #1 VHF NAV put the Crew collectively behind. Although deliberate and positive corrections were being applied and the airport and flight path were VMC; once the error was recognized it would have been more prudent to command a go-around as soon as deviations from prescribed parameters were not satisfied.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1175261
Time
Date	201405
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	HOU.Airport
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	ILS/VOR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 286
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 322 Flight Crew Type 25000
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

B737 flight crew encounters scattered clouds during a visual approach requiring ILS information which had not been tuned in on the captain's side. An overshoot and descent below glidepath both occur while the ILS is tuned in; resulting in an unstabilized approach.