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Cleared to cross an intersection at 17000 ft MSL; flight crew of B737NG failed to set altitude in MCP altitude window and thus did not begin descent in a timely fashion. Reporter cites inconsistent VNAV SOP and lack of familiarity with programming the FMC.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 827815 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200903 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZME.ARTCC |
| State Reference | TN |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Autoflight System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying First Officer |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 186 Flight Crew Type 6500 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Enroute |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Altitude Undershoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance |
Narrative:
Told to cross groat at 17;000 ft. Short of groat got the dreaded call; 'are you going to make it?' had set the altitude in the FMC as a restriction; but didn't dial down the MCP altitude knob; so top of descent came and went unnoticed. ATC gave us relief 'ok; just descend to 17;000 ft.' we hurried down; making the crossing at 17;700 ft instead of 17;000 ft. It's easy to get distracted programming the FMC and to forget to put the new altitude restriction in the MCP window. I don't have an easy answer. Part of it is our weird half automated/half not automated operating procedures. I'll start always selecting the MCP window first.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Cleared to cross an intersection at 17000 FT MSL; flight crew of B737NG failed to set altitude in MCP altitude window and thus did not begin descent in a timely fashion. Reporter cites inconsistent VNAV SOP and lack of familiarity with programming the FMC.
Narrative: Told to cross GROAT at 17;000 FT. Short of GROAT got the dreaded call; 'Are you going to make it?' Had set the altitude in the FMC as a restriction; but didn't dial down the MCP altitude knob; so Top of Descent came and went unnoticed. ATC gave us relief 'OK; just descend to 17;000 FT.' We hurried down; making the crossing at 17;700 FT instead of 17;000 FT. It's easy to get distracted programming the FMC and to forget to put the new altitude restriction in the MCP window. I don't have an easy answer. Part of it is our weird half automated/half not automated operating procedures. I'll start always selecting the MCP window first.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.