A crj captain reported an ACARS message alerting a gate change was received at 3;500 ft on approach....

Attributes
ACN	894001
Time
Date	201006
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Bombardier/Canadair Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	ACARS
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

While being vectored onto runway xx localizer outside the marker at approximately 3500 ft MSL; we received an ACARS message and chime; which was a distraction during a sterile cockpit operation. This has happened several times before even though the company said it would disable the chime below 10000 ft. The ACARS message told us of a gate change. This to me and others crew members is a totally needless and potentially life threatening distraction that has no place during sterile cockpit.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ Captain reported an ACARS message alerting a gate change was received at 3;500 FT on approach. The use of ACARS in the sterile environment is a distraction and a safety issue.

Narrative: While being vectored onto Runway XX LOC outside the marker at approximately 3500 FT MSL; we received an ACARS message and chime; which was a distraction during a sterile cockpit operation. This has happened several times before even though the Company said it would disable the chime below 10000 FT. The ACARS message told us of a gate change. This to me and others crew members is a totally needless and potentially life threatening distraction that has no place during sterile cockpit.

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.

A crj captain reported an ACARS message alerting a gate change was received at 3;500 ft on approach. The use of ACARS in the sterile environment is a distraction and a safety issue.