Narrative:

Radar vectors at FL340. I was the first officer and pilot monitoring in the right seat. The captain was the flying pilot in the left seat. As we proceeded north; we began checking weather reports and learned that arrival airport weather was below what was forecasted. About this time; ATC instructed us to proceed direct to zzzzz fix. ATC then assigned us to cross 55 NM south of zzzzz fix at and maintain FL240.the captain entered the assigned offset fix into the FMS. Once we both confirmed the data entry; the captain directed me to activate the new fix; which I did. The captain set FL240 into the altitude alerter; and I acknowledged that FL240 was set. At this point; I advised the captain that I was switching to radio #2 so that I could get a weather report directly from tower. He acknowledged. When I returned to radio #1; the captain advised me that we had not complied with the crossing restriction of FL240 55 NM south of zzzzz. In fact; the aircraft had not descended from FL340 until ATC queried our altitude.though both crew members conformed with standard altitude alerter set and verify procedures; neither of us verified that the aircraft had actually initiated the descent from FL340 to FL240. In my case; I diverted my attention to communicating with tower; as we may have needed to enter holding or even divert to [an alternate airport] due to low weather at [our destination]. Time was of the essence because if we diverted; we would need to procure alternate ground transportation for our passenger who had a meeting at [our destination].during altitude changes; it is imperative that both pilots not only verify that the correct altitude is set into the altitude alerter (which we did); but also both must acknowledge that an appropriate climb or descent mode is queued and most importantly that the climb or descent has actually been initiated. This is regardless of whether the altitude change is to be initiated by a manual command or by autopilot. Proper prioritization of tasks is essential. In our case; we allowed the destination weather to distract us from an ATC directed descent.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight crew of a Cessna Citation CE-750 reported while attempting to get weather reports; they neglected to monitor the aircraft flight path and did not comply with a crossing restriction.

Narrative: Radar vectors at FL340. I was the First Officer and pilot monitoring in the right seat. The Captain was the flying pilot in the left seat. As we proceeded north; we began checking weather reports and learned that arrival airport weather was below what was forecasted. About this time; ATC instructed us to proceed direct to ZZZZZ fix. ATC then assigned us to cross 55 NM south of ZZZZZ fix at and maintain FL240.The Captain entered the assigned offset fix into the FMS. Once we both confirmed the data entry; the Captain directed me to activate the new fix; which I did. The Captain set FL240 into the altitude alerter; and I acknowledged that FL240 was set. At this point; I advised the Captain that I was switching to Radio #2 so that I could get a weather report directly from Tower. He acknowledged. When I returned to Radio #1; the Captain advised me that we had not complied with the crossing restriction of FL240 55 NM south of ZZZZZ. In fact; the aircraft had not descended from FL340 until ATC queried our altitude.Though both crew members conformed with standard altitude alerter set and verify procedures; neither of us verified that the aircraft had actually initiated the descent from FL340 to FL240. In my case; I diverted my attention to communicating with Tower; as we may have needed to enter holding or even divert to [an alternate airport] due to low weather at [our destination]. Time was of the essence because if we diverted; we would need to procure alternate ground transportation for our passenger who had a meeting at [our destination].During altitude changes; it is imperative that both pilots not only verify that the correct altitude is set into the altitude alerter (which we did); but also both must acknowledge that an appropriate climb or descent mode is queued and most importantly that the climb or descent has actually been initiated. This is regardless of whether the altitude change is to be initiated by a manual command or by autopilot. Proper prioritization of tasks is essential. In our case; we allowed the destination weather to distract us from an ATC directed descent.

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.