<< >> NASA ASRS Report 388510, December 1997

Approach control issued air carrier flight crew vector and descent clearance to 5000 ft. First officer incorrectly input 4000 ft into altitude alerter of autoplt. ATC reassigned 5000 ft when aircraft observed descending through 4400 ft.

Attributes
ACN	388510
Time
Date	199712
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : ewr
State Reference	NJ
Altitude	msl bound lower : 4000 msl bound upper : 5000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : n90
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	descent : approach descent other
Route In Use	arrival other enroute : on vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 100 flight time total : 10000 flight time type : 7000
ASRS Report	388510
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : overshoot conflict : airborne less severe non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	flight crew : returned to intended course or assigned course none taken : detected after the fact other
Consequence	Other
Miss Distance	horizontal : 12000 vertical : 400
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Passed rbv VOR at 6000 ft on a radar vector heading. Approach cleared to descend to 5000 ft. First officer was at controls and misheard altitude and selected 4000 ft in altitude select window of autoplt. At 4400 ft, approach advised us to climb to 5000 ft as there was traffic at 4000 ft a few mi to our west. We made immediate climb to 5000 ft. No TCASII alert occurred.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: APCH CTL ISSUED ACR FLC VECTOR AND DSCNT CLRNC TO 5000 FT. FO INCORRECTLY INPUT 4000 FT INTO ALT ALERTER OF AUTOPLT. ATC REASSIGNED 5000 FT WHEN ACFT OBSERVED DSNDING THROUGH 4400 FT.

Narrative: PASSED RBV VOR AT 6000 FT ON A RADAR VECTOR HEADING. APCH CLRED TO DSND TO 5000 FT. FO WAS AT CTLS AND MISHEARD ALT AND SELECTED 4000 FT IN ALT SELECT WINDOW OF AUTOPLT. AT 4400 FT, APCH ADVISED US TO CLB TO 5000 FT AS THERE WAS TFC AT 4000 FT A FEW MI TO OUR W. WE MADE IMMEDIATE CLB TO 5000 FT. NO TCASII ALERT OCCURRED.

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.