Narrative:

This flight was filed for the civet arrival. I had programmed the civet arrival, and the ILS runway 25L at lax into the FMC before departing las for lax. En route to civet, we were told to 'expect' the mitts arrival into lax. At 2 DME from civet on J60 (211 course into civet), ATC contacted us and told us we were 2 mi from civet, cleared the mitts arrival, runway 24R at lax. I looked down at the FMC and noticed that the PNF had already programmed mitts into the FMC, but the FMC was showing: civet, route discontinuity, mitts on the screen. Missing were 2 navigation points between civet and mitts (ipsiy and snrkl). What I had failed to do was verify what the PNF had programmed into the FMC as directed by our procedures. We immediately received a call from approach, and were given a heading to intercept the runway 24R localizer at lax, because we had overshot our turn at civet. I had become distraction by the programming of the FMC, and failed to turn to the 253 degree course out of civet to proceed inbound to ipsiy. We were still on the 211 degree heading from J60 to civet, although we had just passed civet. I tuned up the runway 24R localizer in my VHF navigation and intercepted the localizer as directed by ATC. We crossed mitts at 10000 ft, and then put 8000 ft in the altitude window of the MCP for the denay crossing. In the confusion created by overshooting our turn at civet, both pilots failed to catch the jonzz crossing restr at 9000 ft. I am not sure at what altitude we actually crossed jonzz, and ATC did not query us on our altitude at jonzz. We did not catch the jonzz crossing restr until past jonzz. After all of this confusion, we landed uneventfully on runway 24R at lax. Some important lessons I will take away from this experience: 1) always ask the other pilot to verify any changes made in the FMC. 2) when told by ATC to expect the mitts arrival, I will already have the runway 24R localizer tuned in my VHF navigation receiver as a back-up in case we do get cleared via the mitts arrival, and we have not yet reprogrammed the FMC. 3) always fly the airplane first and worry about reprogramming the FMC later. 4) double check altitude crossing restrs on arrs/departures.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-300 CREW HAD TRACK DEV AND ALT DEV WHILE FLYING THE MITTS STAR.

Narrative: THIS FLT WAS FILED FOR THE CIVET ARR. I HAD PROGRAMMED THE CIVET ARR, AND THE ILS RWY 25L AT LAX INTO THE FMC BEFORE DEPARTING LAS FOR LAX. ENRTE TO CIVET, WE WERE TOLD TO 'EXPECT' THE MITTS ARR INTO LAX. AT 2 DME FROM CIVET ON J60 (211 COURSE INTO CIVET), ATC CONTACTED US AND TOLD US WE WERE 2 MI FROM CIVET, CLRED THE MITTS ARR, RWY 24R AT LAX. I LOOKED DOWN AT THE FMC AND NOTICED THAT THE PNF HAD ALREADY PROGRAMMED MITTS INTO THE FMC, BUT THE FMC WAS SHOWING: CIVET, RTE DISCONTINUITY, MITTS ON THE SCREEN. MISSING WERE 2 NAV POINTS BTWN CIVET AND MITTS (IPSIY AND SNRKL). WHAT I HAD FAILED TO DO WAS VERIFY WHAT THE PNF HAD PROGRAMMED INTO THE FMC AS DIRECTED BY OUR PROCS. WE IMMEDIATELY RECEIVED A CALL FROM APCH, AND WERE GIVEN A HDG TO INTERCEPT THE RWY 24R LOC AT LAX, BECAUSE WE HAD OVERSHOT OUR TURN AT CIVET. I HAD BECOME DISTR BY THE PROGRAMMING OF THE FMC, AND FAILED TO TURN TO THE 253 DEG COURSE OUT OF CIVET TO PROCEED INBOUND TO IPSIY. WE WERE STILL ON THE 211 DEG HDG FROM J60 TO CIVET, ALTHOUGH WE HAD JUST PASSED CIVET. I TUNED UP THE RWY 24R LOC IN MY VHF NAV AND INTERCEPTED THE LOC AS DIRECTED BY ATC. WE CROSSED MITTS AT 10000 FT, AND THEN PUT 8000 FT IN THE ALT WINDOW OF THE MCP FOR THE DENAY XING. IN THE CONFUSION CREATED BY OVERSHOOTING OUR TURN AT CIVET, BOTH PLTS FAILED TO CATCH THE JONZZ XING RESTR AT 9000 FT. I AM NOT SURE AT WHAT ALT WE ACTUALLY CROSSED JONZZ, AND ATC DID NOT QUERY US ON OUR ALT AT JONZZ. WE DID NOT CATCH THE JONZZ XING RESTR UNTIL PAST JONZZ. AFTER ALL OF THIS CONFUSION, WE LANDED UNEVENTFULLY ON RWY 24R AT LAX. SOME IMPORTANT LESSONS I WILL TAKE AWAY FROM THIS EXPERIENCE: 1) ALWAYS ASK THE OTHER PLT TO VERIFY ANY CHANGES MADE IN THE FMC. 2) WHEN TOLD BY ATC TO EXPECT THE MITTS ARR, I WILL ALREADY HAVE THE RWY 24R LOC TUNED IN MY VHF NAV RECEIVER AS A BACK-UP IN CASE WE DO GET CLRED VIA THE MITTS ARR, AND WE HAVE NOT YET REPROGRAMMED THE FMC. 3) ALWAYS FLY THE AIRPLANE FIRST AND WORRY ABOUT REPROGRAMMING THE FMC LATER. 4) DOUBLE CHK ALT XING RESTRS ON ARRS/DEPS.

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.