Narrative:

Air carrier X was cleared to atl on the HONIE5 arrival runway 26R transition. The aircraft was cleared from 14000 ft to 12000 ft at the wolmn intersection. 10 mi southwest of nofiv the aircraft was cleared to descend via the HONIE5 arrival. The aircraft should have crossed nofiv at 12000 ft then descended to 7000 ft over fanew. I observed the aircraft leaving 11500 ft about 5 mi prior to nofiv and advised the flight crew to stop descent and cross nofiv at or above 11000 ft then continue the descend via clearance. No other aircraft were involved; no loss of separation occurred.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A80 CTLR DESCRIBED PLTDEV WHEN ACR ON HONIE RNAV ARR STARTED A DSCNT PRIOR TO PUBLISHED POINT.

Narrative: ACR X WAS CLRED TO ATL ON THE HONIE5 ARR RWY 26R TRANSITION. THE ACFT WAS CLRED FROM 14000 FT TO 12000 FT AT THE WOLMN INTXN. 10 MI SW OF NOFIV THE ACFT WAS CLRED TO DSND VIA THE HONIE5 ARR. THE ACFT SHOULD HAVE CROSSED NOFIV AT 12000 FT THEN DSNDED TO 7000 FT OVER FANEW. I OBSERVED THE ACFT LEAVING 11500 FT ABOUT 5 MI PRIOR TO NOFIV AND ADVISED THE FLT CREW TO STOP DSCNT AND CROSS NOFIV AT OR ABOVE 11000 FT THEN CONTINUE THE DSND VIA CLRNC. NO OTHER ACFT WERE INVOLVED; NO LOSS OF SEPARATION OCCURRED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.