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B757 captain reported failure to meet a crossing restriction; with a last minute restroom break cited as contributing.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1307920 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201511 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZOB.ARTCC |
| State Reference | OH |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 22000 Flight Crew Type 14000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Altitude Undershoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
As captain of the flight I accept responsibility for these issues and wish to bring some of them to light. I back up my flight attendants fully. There are some items that the [company] must share with [our flight attendants]. I have witnessed a vast number of new hires. I appreciate our flight attendants and am not pointing fingers; but we need to discuss some things.first; when the pilots need food; coffee; and restroom breaks; they are needed then; not in 2 hours or more.we were in cruise; 1 hour out; briefed the arrival and completed the checklist. This was day 5 of 6 for me and I was tired; so I drank 2 cups of coffee prior to TOD. I asked for a restroom break well prior to TOD; and got it just prior to TOD; because the flight attendants were busy. I left quickly and when I was gone my experienced first officer started down. I returned to the cockpit and we were going high at slt. I announced this and he clicked the ap off and manually flew down to FL180. We crossed 400 feet high and nothing was said by ATC. We landed uneventfully.problems encountered: VNAV has been very slow lately and I tell my fos to put a fix 3 miles prior to the crossing altitude so we don't get altcap and bust the altitude. This usually works. I don't understand why the vnavs are acting up like this? We wrote up the VNAV. I've flown this airplane for [many] years and this is bugging me. Can you shed some light on this? Please; make a bulletin and share this with [flight attendants]? I will not leave the flight deck with an inexperienced first officer; at TOD.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B757 Captain reported failure to meet a crossing restriction; with a last minute restroom break cited as contributing.
Narrative: As Captain of the flight I accept responsibility for these issues and wish to bring some of them to light. I back up my flight attendants fully. There are some items that the [company] must share with [our flight attendants]. I have witnessed a vast number of new hires. I appreciate our flight attendants and am not pointing fingers; but we need to discuss some things.First; when the pilots need food; coffee; and restroom breaks; they are needed then; not in 2 hours or more.We were in cruise; 1 hour out; briefed the arrival and completed the checklist. This was day 5 of 6 for me and I was tired; so I drank 2 cups of coffee prior to TOD. I asked for a restroom break well prior to TOD; and got it just prior to TOD; because the flight attendants were busy. I left quickly and when I was gone my experienced FO started down. I returned to the cockpit and we were going high at SLT. I announced this and he clicked the AP off and manually flew down to FL180. We crossed 400 feet high and nothing was said by ATC. We landed uneventfully.Problems encountered: VNAV has been very slow lately and I tell my FOs to put a fix 3 miles prior to the crossing altitude so we don't get ALTCAP and bust the altitude. This usually works. I don't understand why the VNAVs are acting up like this? We wrote up the VNAV. I've flown this airplane for [many] years and this is bugging me. Can you shed some light on this? Please; make a bulletin and share this with [flight attendants]? I will not leave the flight deck with an inexperienced FO; at TOD.
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.