B747 first officer reports bld 4 ovht/prv EICAS message as the aircraft begins descent to FL340. The...

Narrative:

Center had cleared us from FL400 to FL340 and then our discretion to FL240. The captain was the pilot flying and had just awakened the other two pilots from their rest period. Shortly after the ATC clearance and the airplane in descent; an EICAS caution appeared (bld 4 ovht/prv). I promptly grabbed the QRH and started reading but I did not look up to see what the airplane was doing and neither did the captain! He was apparently was following me as I was going through the checklist. The airplane had leveled at FL360 instead of FL340 and ATC had asked us if we were continuing down; I said affirmative and they requested an expedited descent. I contribute this mistake to lack of discipline during a distraction such as the EICAS caution. The captain should have been flying while I was reading and I should have made sure he was! We did not get a TCAS TA/RA and we arrived without further incident.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747 First Officer reports BLD 4 OVHT/PRV EICAS message as the aircraft begins descent to FL340. The Captain monitors the First Officer preforming the QRH procedure and the aircraft levels off early at FL360. Crew is alerted to the early level off by ATC.

Narrative: Center had cleared us from FL400 TO FL340 and then our discretion to FL240. The Captain was the pilot flying and had just awakened the other two pilots from their rest period. Shortly after the ATC clearance and the airplane in descent; an EICAS Caution appeared (BLD 4 OVHT/PRV). I promptly grabbed the QRH and started reading but I did not look up to see what the airplane was doing and neither did the Captain! He was apparently was following me as I was going through the checklist. The airplane had leveled at FL360 instead of FL340 and ATC had asked us if we were continuing down; I said affirmative and they requested an expedited descent. I contribute this mistake to lack of discipline during a distraction such as the EICAS caution. The Captain should have been flying while I was reading and I should have made sure he was! We did not get a TCAS TA/RA and we arrived without further incident.

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.

Attributes
ACN	881724
Time
Date	201004
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B747-400
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 210 Flight Crew Total 9000 Flight Crew Type 1100

B747 first officer reports bld 4 ovht/prv EICAS message as the aircraft begins descent to FL340. The captain monitors the first officer preforming the QRH procedure and the aircraft levels off early at FL360. Crew is alerted to the early level off by ATC.