A crj-700 captain advised that the top altitude; 14;000; of the crossing window at kiddz on the kidd...

Narrative:

There was no event. However; this is a safety observation. First of all; the reason there was no deviation was because of an attentive flight crew; especially; the first officer. My concern has to do with the KIDDZ1 arrival into houston. With a descend via clearance you are expected to pass kiddz intersection between 12;000 ft and 14;000 ft at 280 KTS. Then cross the next fix at 12;000 ft and 270 KTS. The distance between kiddz and the next fix is 4.4 NM. Now; I haven't done the math; but if you cross at the top limit of 14;000 ft over kiddz; would you be able to cross the next fix at 12;000 ft? I programmed the FMS to do just that; and was amazed that the FMS showed a 26 degree glidepath to descend 2;000 ft in 4.4 NM. Why was this arrival designed this way? This could cause a deviation if it hasn't already done so.make kiddz crossing at 12;000 and delete the next fix crossing at 12;000. Simplify the arrival in general.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ-700 Captain advised that the top altitude; 14;000; of the crossing window at KIDDZ on the KIDDZ RNAV STAR to HOU makes it questionable that an aircraft could comply with the 'at 12;000' crossing at SNIFY just 4.4 NM past KIDDZ.

Narrative: There was no event. However; this is a safety observation. First of all; the reason there was no deviation was because of an attentive flight crew; especially; the First Officer. My concern has to do with the KIDDZ1 arrival into Houston. With a descend via clearance you are expected to pass KIDDZ Intersection between 12;000 FT and 14;000 FT at 280 KTS. Then cross the next fix at 12;000 FT and 270 KTS. The distance between KIDDZ and the next fix is 4.4 NM. Now; I haven't done the math; but if you cross at the top limit of 14;000 FT over KIDDZ; would you be able to cross the next fix at 12;000 FT? I programmed the FMS to do just that; and was amazed that the FMS showed a 26 degree glidepath to descend 2;000 FT in 4.4 NM. Why was this arrival designed this way? This could cause a deviation if it hasn't already done so.Make KIDDZ crossing at 12;000 and delete the next fix crossing at 12;000. Simplify the arrival in general.

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	1184346
Time
Date	201406
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZHU.ARTCC
State Reference	TX
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR KIDDZ1
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Autoflight System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Other Unwanted Situation

A crj-700 captain advised that the top altitude; 14;000; of the crossing window at kiddz on the kiddz RNAV STAR to hou makes it questionable that an aircraft could comply with the 'at 12;000' crossing at snify just 4.4 NM past kiddz.