37000 Feet

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An A319 flight crew; level at FL220 near mstrd and cleared via the ivane RNAV STAR to clt; was cleared to 'descend via' the arrival and the flight crew selected managed descent after confirming that each had reviewed the procedure; its restrictions and had determined and set the 'bottom altitude' for the procedure as 6;000 MSL. The aircraft then began a descent to cross royos between FL230 and FL190 as charted; but failed to meet the requirement to cross the active waypoint; kiyen; at or above FL220 as restricted.

Narrative:

I cleared an A319 to descend via IVANE5 arrival a few miles northeast of mstrd intersection. The airbus was level at FL220 and at approximately mstrd started to descend. I stopped the aircraft at FL200 and coordinated with [the next] sector that the flight was not descending via and was level at FL200. This is a known and reported problem with the airbus aircraft that; when they are established below the [charted crossing restriction] mstrd or mayos windows they descend before the appropriate window (kiyen [charted to be crossed] at [or above] FL220). Better training of the airbus pilots [appears necessary] to prevent an early descent and airbus needs to fix the software to prevent further occurrences. Fortunately there were no aircraft in the vicinity when the unexpected descent occurred. This procedure is going to cause an accident if it is not fixed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A319 flight crew; level at FL220 near MSTRD and cleared via the IVANE RNAV STAR to CLT; was cleared to 'descend via' the arrival and the flight crew selected managed descent after confirming that each had reviewed the procedure; its restrictions and had determined and set the 'bottom altitude' for the procedure as 6;000 MSL. The aircraft then began a descent to cross ROYOS between FL230 and FL190 as charted; but failed to meet the requirement to cross the active waypoint; KIYEN; at or above FL220 as restricted.

Narrative: I cleared an A319 to Descend via IVANE5 arrival a few miles northeast of MSTRD intersection. The Airbus was level at FL220 and at approximately MSTRD started to descend. I stopped the aircraft at FL200 and coordinated with [the next] sector that the flight was not descending via and was level at FL200. This is a known and reported problem with the Airbus aircraft that; when they are established below the [charted crossing restriction] MSTRD or MAYOS windows they descend before the appropriate window (KIYEN [charted to be crossed] at [or above] FL220). Better training of the Airbus pilots [appears necessary] to prevent an early descent and Airbus needs to fix the software to prevent further occurrences. Fortunately there were no aircraft in the vicinity when the unexpected descent occurred. This procedure is going to cause an accident if it is not fixed.

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.