Narrative:

It was the 2nd leg of a 3-leg day on the 3rd day of a sequence. The ceiling and visibility were unrestricted. The traffic was light in the terminal area. The flight to den was uneventful. We planned our STAR and approach. The ATIS for den was winds from the north at 9 knots and landing 17R; if my memory is correct it said ILS 17R. There was no mention of any other approaches being offered. On the STAR; ATC kept us somewhat high and kept wanting us to slow. Nothing that was insurmountable. One of the last fixes on the STAR is qwike. We were 10 miles from qwike and below 10000 AGL; ATC cleared us for the RNAV (rnp) Z runway 17R. We were trying to continue to slow to 210 knots. As the pilot monitoring (pm); I went heads down to load the approach and as I loaded it I saw the arc show up as it is expected to on the navigation display. Now we were about 5 miles from qwike. We were both trying to play catch up on reviewing the approach and briefing what we expect on the approach. We failed to review the legs of the approach in the FMC. We did not notice the discontinuity at qwike. As we crossed qwike; we noticed the jet did not start the left hand turn on the RNAV rnp. The pilot flying (PF) tried to correct the turn; and at that time ATC broke us off the approach and cleared us for the visual 17R. The visual approach and landing were uneventful. ATC issued a late approach clearance for an RNAV rnp. We spent time ensuring we were legal to fly the rnp approach. We failed to see the discontinuity. If we had time to review the legs on the approach we would have noticed the discontinuity. Recommendations: put the appropriate approach and runway on the ATIS. As soon as a flight checks in with approach; they should give them the expected approach. As pilots; we need to reinforce that if we don't have time to review an approach; take extended vectors and ensure both pilots are in the green.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-800 flight crew reported a track deviation occurred on the RNAV (RNP) Z arrival to 17R at DEN. Reporters stated a late clearance change contributed to the event.

Narrative: It was the 2nd leg of a 3-leg day on the 3rd day of a sequence. The ceiling and visibility were unrestricted. The traffic was light in the terminal area. The flight to DEN was uneventful. We planned our STAR and approach. The ATIS for DEN was winds from the north at 9 knots and landing 17R; if my memory is correct it said ILS 17R. There was no mention of any other approaches being offered. On the STAR; ATC kept us somewhat high and kept wanting us to slow. Nothing that was insurmountable. One of the last fixes on the STAR is QWIKE. We were 10 miles from QWIKE and below 10000 AGL; ATC cleared us for the RNAV (RNP) Z RWY 17R. We were trying to continue to slow to 210 knots. As the Pilot Monitoring (PM); I went heads down to load the approach and as I loaded it I saw the arc show up as it is expected to on the navigation display. Now we were about 5 miles from QWIKE. We were both trying to play catch up on reviewing the approach and briefing what we expect on the approach. We failed to review the legs of the approach in the FMC. We did not notice the discontinuity at QWIKE. As we crossed QWIKE; we noticed the jet did not start the left hand turn on the RNAV RNP. The Pilot Flying (PF) tried to correct the turn; and at that time ATC broke us off the approach and cleared us for the visual 17R. The visual approach and landing were uneventful. ATC issued a late approach clearance for an RNAV RNP. We spent time ensuring we were legal to fly the RNP approach. We failed to see the discontinuity. If we had time to review the legs on the approach we would have noticed the discontinuity. Recommendations: put the appropriate approach and RWY on the ATIS. As soon as a flight checks in with approach; they should give them the expected approach. As pilots; we need to reinforce that if we don't have time to review an approach; take extended vectors and ensure both pilots are in the green.

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.