Narrative:

The flight was planned from portland to seattle by btg VOR olympia three arrival to seattle. We were in cruise at FL180 with light to moderate turbulence plus snow and ice. I asked center for a lower altitude. ZSE cleared us to seattle by olympia three landing south follow instructions. We incorrectly set up the descent to 12000 ft instead of 16000 ft, which was the third set of instructions printed on the olympia three arrival. Upon reaching 12000 ft seattle approach asked if we were given instructions for landing south. That was when I first noticed the 16000 ft restr on the arrival. I then told approach control that I made a mistake in reading the approach plate and was told in reply that it was no problem. The remainder of the flight was no problem and a normal approach and landing was made. The factors causing the confusion in altitudes on the approach plate was an early morning short flight of 24 mins. Getting a vector heading to intercept the arrival course beyond battleground VOR and the light to moderate turbulence at FL180, plus icing, picking up the ATIS for seattle and setting up the runway for landing in the FMS, doing the descent and arrival checklist plus briefing the approach in a very short time limit. The altitude depiction for crossing arvad intersection was the third set of printed instructions which was easily missed since foort intersection also had a 12000 ft restr like the previous fix for landing north. Also a more clear readout from approach control on the arrival would have made me pick out the correct fix altitudes. Supplemental information from acn 537494: we were told lndgs were being done on runways 16 (16R and 16L) and to descend according to the olympia three arrival. The captain with me on this trip set '12000' in the altitude reminder and said '12000' and pointed at it and kept pointing to it while he waited for me to respond, that is, for me to also point to the altitude and announce '12000,' concentrating on no other aspect of flying as he waited patiently for my confirmation. To placate him, I did so without first looking at the olympia three arrival to confirm 12000 ft was the correct altitude for the next point on the arrival, having noticed a 12000 ft crossing restr (at arvad intersection) in the FMS as part of the olympia three arrival in the route I had entered previously. I then looked at the olympia three arrival to confirm that 12000 ft was the correct altitude at which to cross olympia VORTAC. I saw 2 crossing altitudes for olympia VORTAC, 10000 ft and 12000 ft, but while I was looking at it I was interrupted by the captain calling my attention to the fact that we had only a short distance to get down to 12000 ft. I began the descent to 12000 ft and again tried to look at the olympia three arrival but was again interrupted by the captain reminding me I also needed to be at 250 KTS at olympia. As I still again tried to look at the olympia three arrival to confirm the altitude of 12000 ft I was again distracted by the captain, which this time was calling my attention to a route discontinuity in the FMS after olympia VORTAC, spoken in tones of voice that seemed to be an order to program the route after olympia VORTAC into the FMS. I started to do that, then he said he would do it. By this time we were approaching 12000 ft. We then got a call from seattle approach control telling us that for south lndgs we should be crossing olympia VORTAC at 16000 ft, not 12000 ft. 12000 ft is the correct crossing altitude at olympia VORTAC for north landing turbojets. Approach control had told us lndgs were in progress on runways 16 (south). The correct crossing altitude at olympia VORTAC for south lndgs is 16000 ft, not 12000 ft. The captain had misread the crossing restr at olympia as 12000 ft, and I failed to catch the error and even confirmed it rather than deal with his irritation that he had on previous occasions displayed when I did not promptly point to the altitude reminder and confirm the new altitude he had just dialed in. The 10000 ft and 12000 ft crossing altitudes for olympia VORTAC I had noticed were 10000 ft for turboprop aircraft and 12000 ft for turbojet aircraft landing north. In my interrupted attempts to read the olympia three arrival I had failed to even notice the 16000 ft crossing restr that sometimes applied at olympia VORTAC, specifically 16000 ft MSL for south lndgturbojets. This error would have been avoided if any of the following had happened: if approach control had given us the altitude at which we were to cross olympia VORTAC (a number, eg, '16000') rather than instructing us to descend as shown on the olympia three arrival, or if I had declined to confirm the new altitude (12000 ft) until carefully reading the olympia three arrival, although not promptly confirming the new altitude might have caused a conflict with the captain that would have distracted us from our flying duties, or if the '16000 ft' crossing restr at olympia VORTAC were vertically aligned with the '10000 ft' and '12000 ft' crossing altitudes above it, I probably would have noticed it when I hurriedly glanced at the olympia three arrival in the predawn darkness when I attempted to confirm the captain's setting in the altitude reminder of 12000 ft was the correct crossing altitude at olympia VORTAC.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: XING RESTR NOT MET ON ARR DUE TO THE MISREADING OF A CHART WITH MULTIPLE XING RESTRS DEPICTED.

Narrative: THE FLT WAS PLANNED FROM PORTLAND TO SEATTLE BY BTG VOR OLYMPIA THREE ARR TO SEATTLE. WE WERE IN CRUISE AT FL180 WITH LIGHT TO MODERATE TURB PLUS SNOW AND ICE. I ASKED CTR FOR A LOWER ALT. ZSE CLRED US TO SEATTLE BY OLYMPIA THREE LNDG S FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. WE INCORRECTLY SET UP THE DSCNT TO 12000 FT INSTEAD OF 16000 FT, WHICH WAS THE THIRD SET OF INSTRUCTIONS PRINTED ON THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR. UPON REACHING 12000 FT SEATTLE APCH ASKED IF WE WERE GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS FOR LNDG S. THAT WAS WHEN I FIRST NOTICED THE 16000 FT RESTR ON THE ARR. I THEN TOLD APCH CTL THAT I MADE A MISTAKE IN READING THE APCH PLATE AND WAS TOLD IN REPLY THAT IT WAS NO PROB. THE REMAINDER OF THE FLT WAS NO PROB AND A NORMAL APCH AND LNDG WAS MADE. THE FACTORS CAUSING THE CONFUSION IN ALTS ON THE APCH PLATE WAS AN EARLY MORNING SHORT FLT OF 24 MINS. GETTING A VECTOR HEADING TO INTERCEPT THE ARR COURSE BEYOND BATTLEGROUND VOR AND THE LIGHT TO MODERATE TURB AT FL180, PLUS ICING, PICKING UP THE ATIS FOR SEATTLE AND SETTING UP THE RWY FOR LNDG IN THE FMS, DOING THE DSCNT AND ARR CHKLIST PLUS BRIEFING THE APCH IN A VERY SHORT TIME LIMIT. THE ALT DEPICTION FOR XING ARVAD INTXN WAS THE THIRD SET OF PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS WHICH WAS EASILY MISSED SINCE FOORT INTXN ALSO HAD A 12000 FT RESTR LIKE THE PREVIOUS FIX FOR LNDG N. ALSO A MORE CLR READOUT FROM APCH CTL ON THE ARR WOULD HAVE MADE ME PICK OUT THE CORRECT FIX ALTS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 537494: WE WERE TOLD LNDGS WERE BEING DONE ON RWYS 16 (16R AND 16L) AND TO DSND ACCORDING TO THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR. THE CAPT WITH ME ON THIS TRIP SET '12000' IN THE ALT REMINDER AND SAID '12000' AND POINTED AT IT AND KEPT POINTING TO IT WHILE HE WAITED FOR ME TO RESPOND, THAT IS, FOR ME TO ALSO POINT TO THE ALT AND ANNOUNCE '12000,' CONCENTRATING ON NO OTHER ASPECT OF FLYING AS HE WAITED PATIENTLY FOR MY CONFIRMATION. TO PLACATE HIM, I DID SO WITHOUT FIRST LOOKING AT THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR TO CONFIRM 12000 FT WAS THE CORRECT ALT FOR THE NEXT POINT ON THE ARR, HAVING NOTICED A 12000 FT XING RESTR (AT ARVAD INTXN) IN THE FMS AS PART OF THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR IN THE RTE I HAD ENTERED PREVIOUSLY. I THEN LOOKED AT THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR TO CONFIRM THAT 12000 FT WAS THE CORRECT ALT AT WHICH TO CROSS OLYMPIA VORTAC. I SAW 2 XING ALTS FOR OLYMPIA VORTAC, 10000 FT AND 12000 FT, BUT WHILE I WAS LOOKING AT IT I WAS INTERRUPTED BY THE CAPT CALLING MY ATTN TO THE FACT THAT WE HAD ONLY A SHORT DISTANCE TO GET DOWN TO 12000 FT. I BEGAN THE DSCNT TO 12000 FT AND AGAIN TRIED TO LOOK AT THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR BUT WAS AGAIN INTERRUPTED BY THE CAPT REMINDING ME I ALSO NEEDED TO BE AT 250 KTS AT OLYMPIA. AS I STILL AGAIN TRIED TO LOOK AT THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR TO CONFIRM THE ALT OF 12000 FT I WAS AGAIN DISTRACTED BY THE CAPT, WHICH THIS TIME WAS CALLING MY ATTN TO A RTE DISCONTINUITY IN THE FMS AFTER OLYMPIA VORTAC, SPOKEN IN TONES OF VOICE THAT SEEMED TO BE AN ORDER TO PROGRAM THE RTE AFTER OLYMPIA VORTAC INTO THE FMS. I STARTED TO DO THAT, THEN HE SAID HE WOULD DO IT. BY THIS TIME WE WERE APCHING 12000 FT. WE THEN GOT A CALL FROM SEATTLE APCH CTL TELLING US THAT FOR S LNDGS WE SHOULD BE XING OLYMPIA VORTAC AT 16000 FT, NOT 12000 FT. 12000 FT IS THE CORRECT XING ALT AT OLYMPIA VORTAC FOR N LNDG TURBOJETS. APCH CTL HAD TOLD US LNDGS WERE IN PROGRESS ON RWYS 16 (S). THE CORRECT XING ALT AT OLYMPIA VORTAC FOR S LNDGS IS 16000 FT, NOT 12000 FT. THE CAPT HAD MISREAD THE XING RESTR AT OLYMPIA AS 12000 FT, AND I FAILED TO CATCH THE ERROR AND EVEN CONFIRMED IT RATHER THAN DEAL WITH HIS IRRITATION THAT HE HAD ON PREVIOUS OCCASIONS DISPLAYED WHEN I DID NOT PROMPTLY POINT TO THE ALT REMINDER AND CONFIRM THE NEW ALT HE HAD JUST DIALED IN. THE 10000 FT AND 12000 FT XING ALTS FOR OLYMPIA VORTAC I HAD NOTICED WERE 10000 FT FOR TURBOPROP ACFT AND 12000 FT FOR TURBOJET ACFT LNDG N. IN MY INTERRUPTED ATTEMPTS TO READ THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR I HAD FAILED TO EVEN NOTICE THE 16000 FT XING RESTR THAT SOMETIMES APPLIED AT OLYMPIA VORTAC, SPECIFICALLY 16000 FT MSL FOR S LNDGTURBOJETS. THIS ERROR WOULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING HAD HAPPENED: IF APCH CTL HAD GIVEN US THE ALT AT WHICH WE WERE TO CROSS OLYMPIA VORTAC (A NUMBER, EG, '16000') RATHER THAN INSTRUCTING US TO DSND AS SHOWN ON THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR, OR IF I HAD DECLINED TO CONFIRM THE NEW ALT (12000 FT) UNTIL CAREFULLY READING THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR, ALTHOUGH NOT PROMPTLY CONFIRMING THE NEW ALT MIGHT HAVE CAUSED A CONFLICT WITH THE CAPT THAT WOULD HAVE DISTRACTED US FROM OUR FLYING DUTIES, OR IF THE '16000 FT' XING RESTR AT OLYMPIA VORTAC WERE VERTLY ALIGNED WITH THE '10000 FT' AND '12000 FT' XING ALTS ABOVE IT, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE NOTICED IT WHEN I HURRIEDLY GLANCED AT THE OLYMPIA THREE ARR IN THE PREDAWN DARKNESS WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO CONFIRM THE CAPT'S SETTING IN THE ALT REMINDER OF 12000 FT WAS THE CORRECT XING ALT AT OLYMPIA VORTAC.

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.