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An air carrier crew mistakenly entered an incorrect descent point in the FMC and expedited to make the crossing.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 841524 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200906 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZAU.ARTCC |
| State Reference | IL |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Large Transport |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | PMC Performance/Thrust Management Computer |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 7500 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Procedural Clearance |
Narrative:
After returning to cockpit prior to descent; as pilot flying I had preprogrammed the FMC for expected arrival descent altitudes/airspeeds. We received a clearance to cross emmma at FL320. I heard the clearance; pointed to the MCP alt indicating and stated FL320 'in the box' and verified the aircraft was in VNAV/LNAV. For me this was clearly a case of expectation error as I looked at the ltour intersection at FL320 in the box and associated it for emmma at FL320. The captain acknowledged the in the box call and we proceeded towards the top of descent point. Approaching emmma intersection; the captain asked whether we would be making emmma at FL320 and I noted the VNAV had initiated a descent to cross ltour. It was at this time we verified the clearance was for emmma and not ltour and notified ATC we would expedite our descent. There were no further issues and no known aircraft conflicts discussed. Having flown this arrival numerous times; I have come accustomed to crossing ltour at 320 and the emmma clearance caught me by surprise. In the future I plan on not entering expected clearances crossing altitudes until receiving them and only install hard altitudes/airspeeds.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An air carrier crew mistakenly entered an incorrect descent point in the FMC and expedited to make the crossing.
Narrative: After returning to cockpit prior to descent; as pilot flying I had preprogrammed the FMC for expected arrival descent altitudes/airspeeds. We received a clearance to cross EMMMA at FL320. I heard the clearance; pointed to the MCP alt indicating and stated FL320 'IN THE BOX' and verified the aircraft was in VNAV/LNAV. For me this was clearly a case of expectation error as I looked at the LTOUR intersection at FL320 in the box and associated it for EMMMA at FL320. The captain acknowledged the in the box call and we proceeded towards the top of descent point. Approaching EMMMA intersection; the Captain asked whether we would be making EMMMA at FL320 and I noted the VNAV had initiated a descent to cross LTOUR. It was at this time we verified the clearance was for EMMMA and not LTOUR and notified ATC we would expedite our descent. There were no further issues and no known aircraft conflicts discussed. Having flown this arrival numerous times; I have come accustomed to crossing LTOUR at 320 and the EMMMA clearance caught me by surprise. In the future I plan on not entering expected clearances crossing altitudes until receiving them and only install hard altitudes/airspeeds.
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.