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An air carrier captain described overshooting a charted altitude on an arrival fix into phx after he misinterpreted the chart.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 848229 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200908 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | PHX.Airport |
| State Reference | AZ |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Medium Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
As the pilot flying; on the managed eagul three RNAV arrival into phx; I misread the crossing altitude for geeno intersection. It is published as 'at or above 8000 ft'; but I thought it said a hard altitude of 8000 ft. Thinking we would be high on the crossing restriction; I selected vertical feet at 700 ft down to make what I believed was a hard 8000 ft. The lowest altitude of 7000 ft for the RNAV arrival was set in the MCP altitude window at the time. As I approached 8000 ft; I selected vertical speed zero on the MCP. The aircraft descended to 7;750 ft before it leveled off. The first officer noted that we were below the 8000 ft crossing altitude. I selected 8000 ft back in the MCP window and with the vertical speed selected climbed immediately back to 8000 ft. As we leveled off; ATC asked our altitude; which we responded as 8000 ft. He reminded us that we needed to maintain 8000 ft until passing queny intersection and then to descend via the RNAV arrival. No traffic conflict occurred due to this event.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An air carrier Captain described overshooting a charted altitude on an arrival fix into PHX after he misinterpreted the chart.
Narrative: As the pilot flying; on the managed EAGUL THREE RNAV ARRIVAL into PHX; I misread the crossing altitude for GEENO intersection. It is published as 'At or above 8000 FT'; but I thought it said a hard altitude of 8000 FT. Thinking we would be high on the crossing restriction; I selected vertical feet at 700 FT down to make what I believed was a hard 8000 FT. The lowest altitude of 7000 FT for the RNAV arrival was set in the MCP altitude window at the time. As I approached 8000 FT; I selected vertical speed zero on the MCP. The aircraft descended to 7;750 FT before it leveled off. The First Officer noted that we were below the 8000 FT crossing altitude. I selected 8000 FT back in the MCP window and with the vertical speed selected climbed immediately back to 8000 FT. As we leveled off; ATC asked our altitude; which we responded as 8000 FT. He reminded us that we needed to maintain 8000 FT until passing QUENY intersection and then to descend via the RNAV arrival. No traffic conflict occurred due to this event.
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.