Flight crew of a B757-200 failed to make a crossing descent altitude and undershot due to high tailwinds and not using a slower descent airspeed to compensate for the tailwind!

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Attributes
ACN	351260
Time
Date	199610
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : sfo
State Reference	CA
Altitude	msl bound lower : 11000 msl bound upper : 12000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	descent other
Route In Use	arrival other arrival star : star enroute airway : oak
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	other other : other pilot : commercial pilot : flight engineer pilot : instrument pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 140 flight time total : 7770 flight time type : 740
ASRS Report	351260
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : undershoot non adherence : clearance
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Crossing altitude of 11000 ft given. Programmed in FMC. Captain (PNF) put in 335 KTS descent speed. Due to high tailwinds, crossing could not be made. To prevent, put in estimated tailwinds and a lower initial descent speed to give better projection. Descent clearance needs to be as soon as possible to allow for planning.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF A B757-200 FAILED TO MAKE A XING DSCNT ALT AND UNDERSHOT DUE TO HIGH TAILWINDS AND NOT USING A SLOWER DSCNT AIRSPD TO COMPENSATE FOR THE TAILWIND!

Narrative: XING ALT OF 11000 FT GIVEN. PROGRAMMED IN FMC. CAPT (PNF) PUT IN 335 KTS DSCNT SPD. DUE TO HIGH TAILWINDS, XING COULD NOT BE MADE. TO PREVENT, PUT IN ESTIMATED TAILWINDS AND A LOWER INITIAL DSCNT SPD TO GIVE BETTER PROJECTION. DSCNT CLRNC NEEDS TO BE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO ALLOW FOR PLANNING.

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.