Narrative:

Body clock time for our crew was XA00 hours. This was the second flight of the day for us. It was a long duty day and high flight time day. Compounding the problem is the busy nature of flying that is typical in china. The crew is tired. Adding to the workload, the altitude conversion chart which is used for changing the assigned altitude in meters to a useable altitude in ft. Crew was missing radio calls, and occasionally misunderstanding ATC requests due to language problems and accent of the controller. During descent, very turbulent, adding to the fatigue problem. Complicated arrival procedure coupled with turbulence and very low transition level. During the arrival, the approach controller was changed and we had difficulty understanding her. The so listened to the ATIS, which contains both altimeter settings, qnh and QFE. He incorrectly heard the setting and set the wrong altimeter setting. The discrepancy was finally realized at the OM when our actual crossing altitude did not match the published crossing altitude when on GS. Always check the OM crossing altitude.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF AN WDB MISTAKENLY SET THE WRONG ALTIMETER SETTING PRIOR TO APCH TO A FOREIGN ARPT RESULTING IN A 630 FT HIGHER ALT AT THE OM.

Narrative: BODY CLOCK TIME FOR OUR CREW WAS XA00 HRS. THIS WAS THE SECOND FLT OF THE DAY FOR US. IT WAS A LONG DUTY DAY AND HIGH FLT TIME DAY. COMPOUNDING THE PROB IS THE BUSY NATURE OF FLYING THAT IS TYPICAL IN CHINA. THE CREW IS TIRED. ADDING TO THE WORKLOAD, THE ALT CONVERSION CHART WHICH IS USED FOR CHANGING THE ASSIGNED ALT IN METERS TO A USEABLE ALT IN FT. CREW WAS MISSING RADIO CALLS, AND OCCASIONALLY MISUNDERSTANDING ATC REQUESTS DUE TO LANGUAGE PROBS AND ACCENT OF THE CTLR. DURING DSCNT, VERY TURBULENT, ADDING TO THE FATIGUE PROB. COMPLICATED ARR PROC COUPLED WITH TURB AND VERY LOW TRANSITION LEVEL. DURING THE ARR, THE APCH CTLR WAS CHANGED AND WE HAD DIFFICULTY UNDERSTANDING HER. THE SO LISTENED TO THE ATIS, WHICH CONTAINS BOTH ALTIMETER SETTINGS, QNH AND QFE. HE INCORRECTLY HEARD THE SETTING AND SET THE WRONG ALTIMETER SETTING. THE DISCREPANCY WAS FINALLY REALIZED AT THE OM WHEN OUR ACTUAL XING ALT DID NOT MATCH THE PUBLISHED XING ALT WHEN ON GS. ALWAYS CHK THE OM XING ALT.

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.