A dhc-8 flight crew; cleared to descend to 3000 feet got distracted and failed to note the aircraft ...

Attributes
ACN	1232961
Time
Date	201501
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	EWR.Airport
State Reference	NJ
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Dash 8 Series Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

Instructed to descend from 4;000 feet to 3;000 feet while the airplane was at approximately 4;100 feet. I selected 3;000 feet and both pilot confirmed altitude sel was still selected. At approximately 5NM from FAF on 4R on heading 090 while looking for traffic and airport I realized the airplane was descending through 2;400 feet (no automation inputs from the pilot flying (PF) while altitude was capturing and no altitude deviation warning sound). I immediately turned the autopilot off and started climbing back to 3;000 feet while the pilot monitoring (pm) reported our deviation to ATC. ATC replied saying it was no problem and to descend to 2;000 feet and asked if we had the airport in sight. We reported the airport in sight and were cleared for the visual approach to 4R.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A DHC-8 flight crew; cleared to descend to 3000 feet got distracted and failed to note the aircraft hadn't leveled but instead descended to ~2300 feet at which point they intervened and climbed back to 3000 feet.

Narrative: Instructed to descend from 4;000 feet to 3;000 feet while the airplane was at approximately 4;100 feet. I selected 3;000 feet and both pilot confirmed ALT SEL was still selected. At approximately 5NM from FAF on 4R on heading 090 while looking for traffic and airport I realized the airplane was descending through 2;400 feet (no automation inputs from the Pilot Flying (PF) while altitude was capturing and no altitude deviation warning sound). I immediately turned the autopilot off and started climbing back to 3;000 feet while the Pilot Monitoring (PM) reported our deviation to ATC. ATC replied saying it was no problem and to descend to 2;000 feet and asked if we had the airport in sight. We reported the airport in sight and were cleared for the visual approach to 4R.

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.

A dhc-8 flight crew; cleared to descend to 3000 feet got distracted and failed to note the aircraft hadn't leveled but instead descended to ~2300 feet at which point they intervened and climbed back to 3000 feet.