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Air carrier medium large transport flight crew leveled off 240' below cruise altitude when they forgot to reset their altimeters to 29 pt 92 going through 18,000' because they were confused by an ATC clearance that used a route designation different from that which they filed.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 124983 |
| Time | |
| Date | 198910 |
| Day | Tue |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801 To 2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | atc facility : ewr |
| State Reference | NJ |
| Altitude | msl bound lower : 35000 msl bound upper : 34760 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Controlling Facilities | artcc : zny |
| Operator | common carrier : air carrier |
| Make Model Name | Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Navigation In Use | Other |
| Flight Phase | climbout : intermediate altitude cruise other |
| Route In Use | enroute : on vectors |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : captain oversight : pic |
| Qualification | pilot : instrument pilot : commercial pilot : cfi pilot : atp |
| Experience | flight time last 90 days : 176 flight time total : 13000 flight time type : 3200 |
| ASRS Report | 124983 |
| Person 2 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : first officer |
| Qualification | pilot : commercial pilot : instrument pilot : flight engineer pilot : atp |
| Experience | flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 3500 |
| ASRS Report | 125384 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | aircraft equipment problem : less severe altitude deviation : undershoot non adherence : far non adherence : clearance |
| Independent Detector | other controllera |
| Resolutory Action | flight crew : overcame equipment problem flight crew : returned to intended course or assigned course |
| Consequence | Other |
| Supplementary | |
| Primary Problem | Ambiguous |
| Air Traffic Incident | Pilot Deviation |
| Situations | |
| ATC Facility | procedure or policy : unspecified |
Narrative:
We were climbing out of the ny area en route to cleveland on radar vectors. Passing through 17,000' we were given a heading to intercept a jet airway which we did not immediately recognize. We both grabbed our charts to try to figure out what they wanted us to do. We guessed that we would probably be close to the intercept so we were concentrating on the snarled airways in the area trying to quickly figure it out. As so often happens, the airway we were given lay on top of our filed routing. If the controller had used the same route designator which we had filed, his clearance would have been much less ambiguous. In the meantime we passed through FL180 without setting the altimeter to 29.92 which caused us to level off 240' short of our assigned altitude for a few mi until we corrected the error. Believe me gentlemen I religiously make all callouts, but after 4 days of flying with disrupted sleep, new routes from the merger, and long days I need all the help I can get to keep from missing something. In addition to the above suggestion perhaps a beep from the altitude alerter at FL180 would help.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: ACR MLG FLT CREW LEVELED OFF 240' BELOW CRUISE ALT WHEN THEY FORGOT TO RESET THEIR ALTIMETERS TO 29 PT 92 GOING THROUGH 18,000' BECAUSE THEY WERE CONFUSED BY AN ATC CLRNC THAT USED A ROUTE DESIGNATION DIFFERENT FROM THAT WHICH THEY FILED.
Narrative: WE WERE CLIMBING OUT OF THE NY AREA ENRTE TO CLEVELAND ON RADAR VECTORS. PASSING THROUGH 17,000' WE WERE GIVEN A HDG TO INTERCEPT A JET AIRWAY WHICH WE DID NOT IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZE. WE BOTH GRABBED OUR CHARTS TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY WANTED US TO DO. WE GUESSED THAT WE WOULD PROBABLY BE CLOSE TO THE INTERCEPT SO WE WERE CONCENTRATING ON THE SNARLED AIRWAYS IN THE AREA TRYING TO QUICKLY FIGURE IT OUT. AS SO OFTEN HAPPENS, THE AIRWAY WE WERE GIVEN LAY ON TOP OF OUR FILED ROUTING. IF THE CTLR HAD USED THE SAME ROUTE DESIGNATOR WHICH WE HAD FILED, HIS CLRNC WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH LESS AMBIGUOUS. IN THE MEANTIME WE PASSED THROUGH FL180 WITHOUT SETTING THE ALTIMETER TO 29.92 WHICH CAUSED US TO LEVEL OFF 240' SHORT OF OUR ASSIGNED ALT FOR A FEW MI UNTIL WE CORRECTED THE ERROR. BELIEVE ME GENTLEMEN I RELIGIOUSLY MAKE ALL CALLOUTS, BUT AFTER 4 DAYS OF FLYING WITH DISRUPTED SLEEP, NEW ROUTES FROM THE MERGER, AND LONG DAYS I NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET TO KEEP FROM MISSING SOMETHING. IN ADDITION TO THE ABOVE SUGGESTION PERHAPS A BEEP FROM THE ALT ALERTER AT FL180 WOULD HELP.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 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.