A captain faults himself for not monitoring his first officer's high rate descent closely enough whi...

Attributes
ACN	508340
Time
Date	200104
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zfw.artcc
State Reference	TX
Altitude	msl single value : 25000
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Fokker 100
Flight Phase	descent : approach descent : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	arrival star : bowie
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	508340
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : overshoot non adherence : clearance
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance flight crew : returned to assigned altitude
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

We were descending on the ukw arrival, irw transition. First officer flying. We were cleared to descend to FL250. No crossing restr. Out of FL260, I told the first officer I was going to be off, saying good-bye to the passenger. About the time I was finished, I saw that the autoplt was capturing at FL250. I also saw that the first officer was dialing in an increased rate of descent using vertical speed. As the nose pitched down, I told him that we were going to go through our assigned altitude and to watch it. After some hesitation, he started to reverse the vertical speed but not soon enough. About the time I was going to kick off the autoplt and take over manually, he did the same, but not until after descending to FL246. We promptly climbed back to FL250, at which time ATC gave us a descent to FL240. No traffic conflict occurred. In hindsight, I should have been more aggressive in taking control of the aircraft and situation, instead of worrying about hurting the first officer's feelings by taking the airplane away from him. Lesson learned.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CAPT FAULTS HIMSELF FOR NOT MONITORING HIS FO'S HIGH RATE DSCNT CLOSELY ENOUGH WHILE HE WAS DISTR BY MAKING A PA ANNOUNCEMENT. AN ALT OVERSHOOT WAS THE RESULT.

Narrative: WE WERE DSNDING ON THE UKW ARR, IRW TRANSITION. FO FLYING. WE WERE CLRED TO DSND TO FL250. NO XING RESTR. OUT OF FL260, I TOLD THE FO I WAS GOING TO BE OFF, SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE PAX. ABOUT THE TIME I WAS FINISHED, I SAW THAT THE AUTOPLT WAS CAPTURING AT FL250. I ALSO SAW THAT THE FO WAS DIALING IN AN INCREASED RATE OF DSCNT USING VERT SPD. AS THE NOSE PITCHED DOWN, I TOLD HIM THAT WE WERE GOING TO GO THROUGH OUR ASSIGNED ALT AND TO WATCH IT. AFTER SOME HESITATION, HE STARTED TO REVERSE THE VERT SPD BUT NOT SOON ENOUGH. ABOUT THE TIME I WAS GOING TO KICK OFF THE AUTOPLT AND TAKE OVER MANUALLY, HE DID THE SAME, BUT NOT UNTIL AFTER DSNDING TO FL246. WE PROMPTLY CLBED BACK TO FL250, AT WHICH TIME ATC GAVE US A DSCNT TO FL240. NO TFC CONFLICT OCCURRED. IN HINDSIGHT, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE AGGRESSIVE IN TAKING CTL OF THE ACFT AND SIT, INSTEAD OF WORRYING ABOUT HURTING THE FO'S FEELINGS BY TAKING THE AIRPLANE AWAY FROM HIM. LESSON LEARNED.

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.

A captain faults himself for not monitoring his first officer's high rate descent closely enough while he was distraction by making a PA announcement. An altitude overshoot was the result.