Air carrier first officer reported experiencing a near unstabilized approach while on the suttr 2 ar...

Narrative:

On suttr 2 arrival into sna at night in IMC; socal vectored company traffic in very close behind us creating a spacing problem for sna approach control. While under the lax class B airspace; we were complying with far speeds. Approach control twice told us to 'keep your speed up.' it was impossible to go faster while still complying with the fars. Weather was a factor. We were IMC in rain; needing to slow to flaps 40 speeds to land on a short/wet runway in heavy rain at night. Approach continued to keep us fast on downwind then vectored us to a 90 degree intercept to the final approach course at the final approach fix. Through great communication from the pilot monitoring who recognized me slipping into the yellow; we were able to get a stabilized approach by 1;000 feet. However; I was well into the yellow; at times dipping into the red; simply to fix a minor spacing issue caused by ATC.approach control needs to be aware of the speed restrictions in their own airspace. Approach control should have a basic understanding of the additive weather conditions within their airspace; and the effects that weather has on approach capability. I should have directed the pilot monitoring to tell approach we would take vectors to a 7-8 mile final to give me more time to follow a normal approach and configuration sequence to stay in the green.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier First Officer reported experiencing a near unstabilized approach while on the SUTTR 2 Arrival to SNA airport due to ATC instructions to resolve a spacing issue.

Narrative: On SUTTR 2 Arrival into SNA at night in IMC; SoCal vectored Company traffic in very close behind us creating a spacing problem for SNA Approach Control. While under the LAX Class B airspace; we were complying with FAR speeds. Approach Control twice told us to 'keep your speed up.' It was impossible to go faster while still complying with the FARs. Weather was a factor. We were IMC in rain; needing to slow to flaps 40 speeds to land on a short/wet runway in heavy rain at night. Approach continued to keep us fast on downwind then vectored us to a 90 degree intercept to the final approach course at the final approach fix. Through great communication from the Pilot Monitoring who recognized me slipping into the Yellow; we were able to get a stabilized approach by 1;000 feet. However; I was well into the Yellow; at times dipping into the Red; simply to fix a minor spacing issue caused by ATC.Approach Control needs to be aware of the speed restrictions in their own airspace. Approach Control should have a basic understanding of the additive weather conditions within their airspace; and the effects that weather has on approach capability. I should have directed the Pilot Monitoring to tell Approach we would take vectors to a 7-8 mile final to give me more time to follow a normal approach and configuration sequence to stay 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.

Attributes
ACN	1598295
Time
Date	201811
Place
Locale Reference	SCT.TRACON
State Reference	CA
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	STAR SUTTR2
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 488 Flight Crew Type 488
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Air carrier first officer reported experiencing a near unstabilized approach while on the suttr 2 arrival to sna airport due to ATC instructions to resolve a spacing issue.