Narrative:

We were on the arrival into atl. [On with approach control]; were given descent to 10;000 feet abeam eagyl; and speed 210; between eagyl and shurt a descent to 7;000 feet; abeam shurt we were given a descent to 3;000 feet; then told 'expedite to 3;000 feet; expect short final.' we started expediting down and asked approach our sequence; they said 'you're number two and following a air carrier Y.' the air carrier Y was base to final and about eight to ten miles away from our position; we were on downwind. We continued down and configuring the aircraft; the captain was flying and slowed down; I never challenged the speed and we both misunderstood the 'expedite down' instruction and expect short final with a speed relief.shortly after; we were given a vector to heading 360. Then approach called 'say speed;' we did say speed and explained; since it was a short final and the 757 had passed opposite direction our 9 o'clock; we understood we had to slow down. Approach said 'speed 180;' we increased speed to 180; approach then said 'turn left heading 300; maintain 180 to jubba; clear visual approach runway xx.' then the controller called 'say speed again' I replied; speed 180. He then said 'clear visual; call tower at jubba;' keep in mind between the slowed down speed of about 160 to increasing to 180 we approached the 757 to a distance of about three miles once given the turn to final.once on the ground; tower gave us taxi via [route]; and gave us a number to call for possible deviation. The captain called; spoke to a controller; explained what we understood; and then the controller explained some things to the captain. After the call the captain explained to me what they spoke about; and told me that the controller said 'no deviation' just information for the future.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-700 First Officer reported deviating from assigned airspeed on approach.

Narrative: We were on the Arrival into ATL. [On with Approach Control]; were given descent to 10;000 feet abeam EAGYL; and speed 210; between EAGYL and SHURT a descent to 7;000 feet; abeam SHURT we were given a descent to 3;000 feet; then told 'expedite to 3;000 feet; expect short final.' We started expediting down and asked Approach our sequence; they said 'you're number two and following a Air Carrier Y.' The Air Carrier Y was base to final and about eight to ten miles away from our position; we were on downwind. We continued down and configuring the aircraft; the Captain was flying and slowed down; I never challenged the speed and we both misunderstood the 'expedite down' instruction and expect short final with a speed relief.Shortly after; we were given a vector to heading 360. Then Approach called 'say speed;' we did say speed and explained; since it was a short final and the 757 had passed opposite direction our 9 o'clock; we understood we had to slow down. Approach said 'speed 180;' we increased speed to 180; Approach then said 'turn left heading 300; maintain 180 to JUBBA; clear Visual Approach Runway XX.' Then the Controller called 'say speed again' I replied; speed 180. He then said 'Clear visual; call Tower at JUBBA;' keep in mind between the slowed down speed of about 160 to increasing to 180 we approached the 757 to a distance of about three miles once given the turn to final.Once on the ground; Tower gave us taxi via [route]; and gave us a number to call for possible deviation. The Captain called; spoke to a Controller; explained what we understood; and then the Controller explained some things to the Captain. After the call the Captain explained to me what they spoke about; and told me that the Controller said 'No Deviation' just information for the future.

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.