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TRACON controller reported an aircraft descended to an unsafe altitude while not responding to ATC.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1713949 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201912 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Final Approach |
| Route In Use | Other Instrument Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Approach |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
I just plugged into position. The controller I was relieving told me to watch out for aircraft X because he seemed kind of off. Aircraft X was cleared for the ILS to runway xxl. After working the other airplanes and settling into the position; I noticed the low altitude alert go off on aircraft X. I told the pilot low altitude and the altimeter. He continued a steady descent through 1;300 on an 11 mile final. I kept telling the pilot he was too low and to climb. There was a language barrier; but he was responding 'roger' to me.he kept descending all the way down to either 600 or 500 feet on an 8 NM final which even though we were east traffic over ocean is extremely low for a B777 to be at on an 8 NM final. After the tower kept getting in my ear while I was trying to repair and control a dire situation; the plane didn't start to climb back up until they were at the final approach fix. In that state; they were unstable again; so I sent the plane around. I don't know what happened with the pilot and their equipment but I believe that since they were over the water that something must have gone wrong; whether it be perception or equipment malfunction. They seemed like nothing was wrong and were unaware that they were too low. Our operation is usually west traffic so I don't know if these pilots were just caught off guard with our un-ordinary operation. I believe this is just pilot error and mechanical malfunction. I don't know how this could be fixed.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: TRACON Controller reported an aircraft descended to an unsafe altitude while not responding to ATC.
Narrative: I just plugged into position. The Controller I was relieving told me to watch out for Aircraft X because he seemed kind of off. Aircraft X was cleared for the ILS to Runway XXL. After working the other airplanes and settling into the position; I noticed the Low Altitude alert go off on Aircraft X. I told the pilot Low Altitude and the altimeter. He continued a steady descent through 1;300 on an 11 mile final. I kept telling the pilot he was too low and to climb. There was a language barrier; but he was responding 'Roger' to me.He kept descending all the way down to either 600 or 500 feet on an 8 NM final which even though we were east traffic over Ocean is extremely low for a B777 to be at on an 8 NM final. After the Tower kept getting in my ear while I was trying to repair and control a dire situation; the plane didn't start to climb back up until they were at the final approach fix. In that state; they were unstable again; so I sent the plane around. I don't know what happened with the pilot and their equipment but I believe that since they were over the water that something must have gone wrong; whether it be perception or equipment malfunction. They seemed like nothing was wrong and were unaware that they were too low. Our operation is usually west traffic so I don't know if these pilots were just caught off guard with our un-ordinary operation. I believe this is just pilot error and mechanical malfunction. I don't know how this could be fixed.
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.