An A320 pilot flying the lax seavu two was prevented by company procedures from using the managed de...

Attributes
ACN	840100
Time
Date	200906
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	LAX.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	STAR SEAVU2
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	FMS/FMC
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 9700 Flight Crew Type 2700
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

We were flying the SEAVU2 arrival to the ILS25L at klax. Socal cleared us for the ILS while still way out on the seavu arrival. The fact that they do this now is a huge improvement over the 'old days' when they gave multiple descents to the approach. The problem arises in that my airline still refuses to let us use the 'managed descent' mode of the autopilot. There are a total of 14 intermediate altitude restrictions on the combined STAR and ILS. If we could use 'managed descent' we would enter the lowest altitude restriction; press the managed descent knob (altitude knob) once; then monitor the autopilot as it followed the descent profile. The way my air carrier makes us do it is to set all of the intermediate altitudes as we approach them; hoping the FMA doesn't go to altitude* before we're able to set the next altitude. This results in 14 'settings' of the altitude knob and usually as many pushes/pulls of the knob during the descent.tonight I got 13 of them right; but managed to get about 180 ft low at gaate. It sure would be nice to be able to use all the features at our disposal; it certainly would have prevented this altitude bust.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A320 pilot flying the LAX SEAVU TWO was prevented by Company procedures from using the managed descent mode and after manually setting thirteen step down altitudes missed the fourteenth and got low on profile.

Narrative: We were flying the SEAVU2 arrival to the ILS25L at KLAX. SOCAL cleared us for the ILS while still WAY out on the SEAVU arrival. The fact that they do this now is a HUGE improvement over the 'old days' when they gave multiple descents to the approach. The problem arises in that my airline still refuses to let us use the 'managed descent' mode of the autopilot. There are a total of 14 intermediate altitude restrictions on the combined STAR and ILS. If we could use 'managed descent' we would enter the lowest altitude restriction; press the managed descent knob (altitude knob) ONCE; then monitor the autopilot as it followed the descent profile. The way my air carrier makes us do it is to set ALL of the intermediate altitudes as we approach them; hoping the FMA doesn't go to ALT* before we're able to set the next altitude. This results in 14 'settings' of the altitude knob and usually as many pushes/pulls of the knob during the descent.Tonight I got 13 of them right; but managed to get about 180 FT low at GAATE. It sure would be nice to be able to use all the features at our disposal; it certainly would have prevented this altitude bust.

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.

An A320 pilot flying the lax seavu two was prevented by company procedures from using the managed descent mode and after manually setting thirteen step down altitudes missed the fourteenth and got low on profile.