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While adhering to the SERFR1 STAR into ksfo; a medium transport flight crew exceeded 200 knots below the sfo class B airspace. It was identified that the design of this arrival led to the inadvertent operation below the class B altitude floor.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1248447 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201503 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | NCT.TRACON |
| State Reference | CA |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Medium Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | STAR SERFR1 |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Not Flying |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Speed All Types |
Narrative:
Flying the new arrival into sfo; the SERFR1; we were given the clearance to 'descend via' except maintain 6;000 feet after epick. It's been my experience that when flying an unfamiliar procedure with required speeds and altitudes that getting to the bottom of an altitude 'window' is safest. Upon crossing epick and commencing a descent from 10;000 feet to 6;000 feet; we slowed from 280KTS to 250KTS passing below 10;000 feet and kept the speed until needing to slow to 240KTS at eddyy. At some point we were told by norcal that we were exiting the class B and would re-enter the bravo in a couple miles. This led to some confusion on our part because the speed limit below a class B is 200KTS but the arrival requires that we be at 240KTS at eddyy. We were unaware that following the clearance and the arrival would put us at odds with 91.117.the root cause is the new arrival procedure; SERFR1; that permits descents below the floor of the sfo class B airspace while requiring airspeeds greater than 200KTS. I suggest a revision of the SERFR1 that will keep aircraft on that arrival inside the sfo class B while descending. Additionally I suggest that norcal not allow descents below the class B while giving alternate altitudes to the arrival. Finally I suggest that pilots be made aware of this and plan appropriately to keep themselves in compliance with 91.117 by staying at or above the class B floor.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: While adhering to the SERFR1 STAR into KSFO; a Medium Transport Flight Crew exceeded 200 knots below the SFO Class B airspace. It was identified that the design of this arrival led to the inadvertent operation below the Class B altitude floor.
Narrative: Flying the new arrival into SFO; the SERFR1; we were given the clearance to 'descend via' except maintain 6;000 feet after EPICK. It's been my experience that when flying an unfamiliar procedure with required speeds and altitudes that getting to the bottom of an altitude 'window' is safest. Upon crossing EPICK and commencing a descent from 10;000 feet to 6;000 feet; we slowed from 280KTS to 250KTS passing below 10;000 feet and kept the speed until needing to slow to 240KTS at EDDYY. At some point we were told by NorCal that we were exiting the Class B and would re-enter the Bravo in a couple miles. This led to some confusion on our part because the speed limit below a Class B is 200KTS but the arrival requires that we be at 240KTS at EDDYY. We were unaware that following the clearance and the arrival would put us at odds with 91.117.The root cause is the new arrival procedure; SERFR1; that permits descents below the floor of the SFO Class B airspace while requiring airspeeds greater than 200KTS. I suggest a revision of the SERFR1 that will keep aircraft on that arrival inside the SFO Class B while descending. Additionally I suggest that NorCal not allow descents below the Class B while giving alternate altitudes to the arrival. Finally I suggest that pilots be made aware of this and plan appropriately to keep themselves in compliance with 91.117 by staying at or above the Class B floor.
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.