Altitude deviation. Flight crew distraction.

Attributes
ACN	308200
Time
Date	199506
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zjx
State Reference	FL
Altitude	msl bound lower : 28600 msl bound upper : 29000
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zjx tower : cle
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B727 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	cruise other descent other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	308200
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
ASRS Report	308192
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : overshoot non adherence : clearance
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : returned to intended course or assigned course
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

In the vicinity of valdosta VOR ATC issued clearance to descend from FL310 to FL290. Captain was flying and initiated descent. Passing FL300 flight engineer switched bleeds per SOP. Shortly after bleeds switched, #3 bleed tripped which caused a change in cabin rate. Flight engineer reset bleeds and resolved problem in accordance with operations manual. Captain was momentarily distracted, causing a late level off at FL290. There was a momentary descent to FL286, 400 ft low, which was immediately corrected. No comment on deviation from ATC.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ALTDEV. FLC DISTR.

Narrative: IN THE VICINITY OF VALDOSTA VOR ATC ISSUED CLRNC TO DSND FROM FL310 TO FL290. CAPT WAS FLYING AND INITIATED DSCNT. PASSING FL300 FE SWITCHED BLEEDS PER SOP. SHORTLY AFTER BLEEDS SWITCHED, #3 BLEED TRIPPED WHICH CAUSED A CHANGE IN CABIN RATE. FE RESET BLEEDS AND RESOLVED PROB IN ACCORDANCE WITH OPS MANUAL. CAPT WAS MOMENTARILY DISTRACTED, CAUSING A LATE LEVEL OFF AT FL290. THERE WAS A MOMENTARY DSCNT TO FL286, 400 FT LOW, WHICH WAS IMMEDIATELY CORRECTED. NO COMMENT ON DEV FROM ATC.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.