Narrative:

I was the pm on our descent into bna on the ryymn arrival; night; IMC; landing north. Memphis center controller cleared us to 'descend via' the arrival landing north. Sometime around FL200; memphis center told us to now 'descend via; landing south.' we both realized that we were extremely high on profile due to the late runway change; and most importantly; we were approaching the 'branch point' on the arrival. The PF was heads-down; furiously trying to reprogram the FMC. Realizing we were approaching the branch point; I asked memphis center for an initial heading; to which center gave no response. I asked a second time; more emphatically; to which memphis center responded 'unable; switch to approach control.'I was furious with the lack of proper safety handling from memphis center; which was unacceptable. PF got the FMC programmed; after both of us correctly identified the new runway and arrival transition; but we were still about 4000 ft high on the arrival. PF selected 'speed intervention' while in VNAV; without annunciating it to me; and selected 300 knots; all while I was heads-down trying to gather the landing info for the new south flow runways. As the aircraft passed 10;000 ft in the descent; it maintained 300 knots. I looked up; called out our airspeed; and the PF disconnected the autopilot; slowed; and continued descent. I think we maintained 300 knots until about 9500 ft. Very unprofessional; lazy; and unsafe handling from memphis center greatly contributed to this event. This was the only time in my 25 years of flying experience that a controller told me 'unable' when I asked for a simple heading in order to keep safely navigating! Unbelievable and unacceptable handling by memphis center controller.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported exceeding 250 knots below 10000 feet after given a runway change late in the descent.

Narrative: I was the PM on our descent into BNA on the RYYMN arrival; night; IMC; landing north. Memphis Center Controller cleared us to 'descend via' the arrival landing north. Sometime around FL200; Memphis Center told us to now 'descend via; landing south.' We both realized that we were extremely high on profile due to the late runway change; and most importantly; we were approaching the 'branch point' on the arrival. The PF was heads-down; furiously trying to reprogram the FMC. Realizing we were approaching the branch point; I asked Memphis Center for an initial heading; to which Center gave no response. I asked a second time; more emphatically; to which Memphis Center responded 'unable; switch to Approach Control.'I was furious with the lack of proper safety handling from Memphis Center; which was unacceptable. PF got the FMC programmed; after both of us correctly identified the new runway and arrival transition; but we were still about 4000 ft high on the arrival. PF selected 'speed intervention' while in VNAV; without annunciating it to me; and selected 300 knots; all while I was heads-down trying to gather the landing info for the new south flow runways. As the aircraft passed 10;000 ft in the descent; it maintained 300 knots. I looked up; called out our airspeed; and the PF disconnected the autopilot; slowed; and continued descent. I think we maintained 300 knots until about 9500 ft. Very unprofessional; lazy; and unsafe handling from Memphis Center greatly contributed to this event. This was the only time in my 25 years of flying experience that a Controller told me 'unable' when I asked for a simple heading in order to keep safely navigating! Unbelievable and unacceptable handling by Memphis Center Controller.

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.