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A80 TRACON controller reported an aircraft on a new arrival procedure descending below its assigned altitude.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1408293 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201612 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | A80.TRACON |
| State Reference | GA |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | STAR RAGZZ1 |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Approach |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 1.5 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance |
Narrative:
This was an oapm (optimization of airspace and procedures) procedural event. I was working the feeder position. Aircraft X; was on my frequency descending via the RAGGZ1 arrival. The arrival ends at warrr at 12;000 feet. Aircraft X busted the altitude and descended to 11;400 feet. There was a departure aircraft off of atl climbing to 10;000 feet directly in front of aircraft X. I became aware of the situation and stopped aircraft X at 11;000 feet. We have had multiple aircraft busting altitudes on the new descend via stars who have said that they were actually descending to the MEA (minimum enroute altitude). Lots of confusion with pilots about the new procedures. Aircraft X received an RA on his TCAS for the departing aircraft and climbed. I had asked aircraft X 'what happened there?' in reference to his unauthorized descent. Aircraft X responded that I had given them the RNAV STAR transition and they were descending via the arrival. I informed aircraft X that the arrival ends at a fix at 12;000 feet. Tower issued the brasher warning to aircraft X to call the TRACON. The pilots need to be trained better for these new procedures. It seems they have a lot of confusion about them. This leads to; at a minimum; 20 questions about the new procedures on frequency. They are new for us too and this adds to a lot of frequency congestion and time that we don't have to explain the new procedures. In the worst case scenarios aircraft will descend to wrong altitudes in direct confliction with other aircraft.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A80 TRACON Controller reported an aircraft on a new arrival procedure descending below its assigned altitude.
Narrative: This was an OAPM (Optimization of Airspace and Procedures) procedural event. I was working the feeder position. Aircraft X; was on my frequency descending via the RAGGZ1 arrival. The arrival ends at WARRR at 12;000 feet. Aircraft X busted the altitude and descended to 11;400 feet. There was a departure aircraft off of ATL climbing to 10;000 feet directly in front of Aircraft X. I became aware of the situation and stopped Aircraft X at 11;000 feet. We have had multiple aircraft busting altitudes on the new descend via STARs who have said that they were actually descending to the MEA (Minimum Enroute Altitude). Lots of confusion with pilots about the new procedures. Aircraft X received an RA on his TCAS for the departing aircraft and climbed. I had asked Aircraft X 'what happened there?' in reference to his unauthorized descent. Aircraft X responded that I had given them the RNAV STAR transition and they were descending via the arrival. I informed Aircraft X that the arrival ends at a fix at 12;000 feet. Tower issued the brasher warning to Aircraft X to call the TRACON. The pilots need to be trained better for these new procedures. It seems they have a lot of confusion about them. This leads to; at a minimum; 20 questions about the new procedures on frequency. They are new for us too and this adds to a lot of frequency congestion and time that we don't have to explain the new procedures. In the worst case scenarios aircraft will descend to wrong altitudes in direct confliction with other aircraft.
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.