An air carrier flight crew on the sbbr RNAV Z 11L was cleared to 5;000 feet by ATC; but received an ...

Narrative:

We were on arrival into sbbr and cleared for the ILS Z runway 11L approach. We were subsequently cleared to 5;000 feet by sbbr approach. Shortly after reaching 5;000 feet and just prior to BR003 we responded to a GPWS audible warning which destabilized the approach and necessitated a go-around. We were vectored back and landed uneventfully. Upon review of the incident we all remembered having briefed the minimum altitudes of the approach; but had not caught the departure from sops; or the decent below the mandatory 5;500 feet. With 5;000 feet set in the mode control panel and using fl change for the decent we had set ourselves up for error. During the approach on numerous occasions we had had to ask ATC to repeat the clearance sometimes more than once due to quality of transmission; command of the english language; and strong accent. Almost every transmission required at least one 'say again'; and additional verification from all pilots on board before the altitude was even set. I believe a contributing factor was that the area of threat had shifted from what would have been a routine arrival; to concern that we understood and were complying with the most recent ATC transmissions. This would include the obvious 'we all heard five thousand?' query before the altitude was set. Certainly not an excuse; but perhaps better communications with ATC could ameliorate the potential for incidents like this in the future. Of course in all operations verification that all arrival and approach altitude restrictions are complied with regardless of an ATC clearance is required.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier flight crew on the SBBR RNAV Z 11L was cleared to 5;000 feet by ATC; but received an EGPWS alert because they failed to set the 5;500 foot mandatory altitude crossing at BR003.

Narrative: We were on arrival into SBBR and cleared for the ILS Z Runway 11L Approach. We were subsequently cleared to 5;000 feet by SBBR approach. Shortly after reaching 5;000 feet and just prior to BR003 we responded to a GPWS audible warning which destabilized the approach and necessitated a go-around. We were vectored back and landed uneventfully. Upon review of the incident we all remembered having briefed the minimum altitudes of the approach; but had not caught the departure from SOPs; or the decent below the mandatory 5;500 feet. With 5;000 feet set in the mode control panel and using FL change for the decent we had set ourselves up for error. During the approach on numerous occasions we had had to ask ATC to repeat the clearance sometimes more than once due to quality of transmission; command of the english language; and strong accent. Almost every transmission required at least one 'say again'; and additional verification from all pilots on board before the altitude was even set. I believe a contributing factor was that the area of threat had shifted from what would have been a routine arrival; to concern that we understood and were complying with the most recent ATC transmissions. This would include the obvious 'We all heard five thousand?' query before the altitude was set. Certainly not an excuse; but perhaps better communications with ATC could ameliorate the potential for incidents like this in the future. Of course in all operations verification that all arrival and approach altitude restrictions are complied with regardless of an ATC clearance is required.

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	1248662
Time
Date	201503
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	SBBR.Airport
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Total 13900
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT Inflight Event / Encounter Unstabilized Approach

An air carrier flight crew on the sbbr RNAV Z 11L was cleared to 5;000 feet by ATC; but received an egpws alert because they failed to set the 5;500 foot mandatory altitude crossing at BR003.