<< >> NASA ASRS Report 367190, April 1997

MD80 super 80 descended 300 ft below assigned altitude when autoplt failed to capture altitude. Autothrottles were inoperative.

Attributes
ACN	367190
Time
Date	199704
Day	Wed
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : fll
State Reference	FL
Altitude	msl bound lower : 23700 msl bound upper : 24000
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zjx
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-80 Super 80
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other
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	367190
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe 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:

Upon descending from FL350 to FL240 the first officer turned off the autothrottles. Autoplt tried to level off but it appeared that it was going to go below FL240. Autoplt was turned off, and aircraft was hand flown to leveloff. I believe this was due to turning off autothrottle during leveloff. The autoplt could not level smoothly or at assigned altitude without autothrottle on.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 SUPER 80 DSNDED 300 FT BELOW ASSIGNED ALT WHEN AUTOPLT FAILED TO CAPTURE ALT. AUTOTHROTTLES WERE INOP.

Narrative: UPON DSNDING FROM FL350 TO FL240 THE FO TURNED OFF THE AUTOTHROTTLES. AUTOPLT TRIED TO LEVEL OFF BUT IT APPEARED THAT IT WAS GOING TO GO BELOW FL240. AUTOPLT WAS TURNED OFF, AND ACFT WAS HAND FLOWN TO LEVELOFF. I BELIEVE THIS WAS DUE TO TURNING OFF AUTOTHROTTLE DURING LEVELOFF. THE AUTOPLT COULD NOT LEVEL SMOOTHLY OR AT ASSIGNED ALT WITHOUT AUTOTHROTTLE ON.

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.