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A Q400 flight crew deviated from the cleared altitude because they had the field in sight and forgot they were cleared for the instrument approach rather than the visual.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 840785 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200906 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Q400 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance |
Narrative:
While executing the RNAV/GPS in VMC conditions (airport in sight); we were cleared 'cross zzzzz at 7000 ft; cleared approach.' we crossed zzzzz at 5900 ft; which was 1100 ft low. No other air traffic was affected; ATC did not query us; and we landed normally. As the first officer; I was pilot flying. Both myself and the captain; pilot monitoring; were affected as we both noticed the altitude deviation. We were descending on VNAV and were planning to cross zzzzz at 5900 ft; which was the FMS back-calculated altitude for zzzzz. Center gave us a clearance to cross zzzzz at 7000 ft; which was much higher than the back-calculated altitude. We didn't set the altitude alerter to 7000 ft in time and since we were in VMC conditions with the airport in sight; we decided to continue to descend; crossing zzzzz at 5900 ft. Also; on the approach plate; 4400 ft is the crossing altitude at zzzzz; and I had that number mistakenly in mind the whole time. We then realized that we were cleared for an IFR approach; not a visual; and were 1100 ft lower than cleared at zzzzz; but it was too late. The next fix on the approach is yyyyy; which added confusion to ATC's clearance of zzzzz. Two fixes one right after the other on an approach plate should not sound so similar when spoken aloud. Also; we were on leg 6 of 6; and were tired.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Q400 flight crew deviated from the cleared altitude because they had the field in sight and forgot they were cleared for the instrument approach rather than the visual.
Narrative: While executing the RNAV/GPS in VMC conditions (airport in sight); we were cleared 'Cross ZZZZZ at 7000 FT; cleared approach.' We crossed ZZZZZ at 5900 FT; which was 1100 FT low. No other air traffic was affected; ATC did not query us; and we landed normally. As the First Officer; I was pilot flying. Both myself and the Captain; pilot monitoring; were affected as we both noticed the altitude deviation. We were descending on VNAV and were planning to cross ZZZZZ at 5900 FT; which was the FMS back-calculated altitude for ZZZZZ. Center gave us a clearance to cross ZZZZZ at 7000 FT; which was much higher than the back-calculated altitude. We didn't set the altitude alerter to 7000 FT in time and since we were in VMC Conditions with the airport in sight; we decided to continue to descend; crossing ZZZZZ at 5900 FT. Also; on the approach plate; 4400 FT is the crossing altitude at ZZZZZ; and I had that number mistakenly in mind the whole time. We then realized that we were cleared for an IFR approach; not a visual; and were 1100 FT lower than cleared at ZZZZZ; but it was too late. The next fix on the approach is YYYYY; which added confusion to ATC's clearance of ZZZZZ. Two fixes one right after the other on an approach plate should not sound so similar when spoken aloud. Also; we were on leg 6 of 6; and were tired.
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.