ATC reported that air carrier crews on the rdu raskl 1 RNAV were descending to 4;000 ft after nedie ...

Narrative:

We were flying the raskl 1 into rdu. We had been cleared to descend via the arrival. We set 6;000 ft in the altitude selector and were descending in VNAV path. During the descent; ATC asked us what altitude we were planning on descending to. We responded 6;000 ft as the last altitude depicted on the arrival was nedic 6;000 ft. He said that two company aircraft had descended to 4;000 ft after nedic that day and wanted to know if we saw any reason that they might have done so. There seems to be a problem with the way crews understand this arrival. When the raskl arrival and ILS 5R are loaded in the FMC; there is no disconnect in the route. Pecit is the last fix on the arrival and the first fix on the approach. Pecit is loaded in the FMC with a 4;000 ft crossing altitude. I don't know whether these crews thought they had been cleared for the approach or made a mistake in understanding the descend via clearance. Since pecit is on both the arrival and the approach; crews may think they are cleared to descend to 4;000 at pecit with the descend via clearance. I think this is a new STAR and there seems to be a problem with crews understanding the clearance limit.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ATC reported that air carrier crews on the RDU RASKL 1 RNAV were descending to 4;000 FT after NEDIE when the depicted clearance is NEDIE at or about 6;000 FT with no required descent until cleared by ATC after NEDIE. The RDU 5R ILS depicts PECIT at 4;000 FT but it is not mandatory.

Narrative: We were flying the RASKL 1 into RDU. We had been cleared to descend via the arrival. We set 6;000 FT in the altitude selector and were descending in VNAV Path. During the descent; ATC asked us what altitude we were planning on descending to. We responded 6;000 FT as the last altitude depicted on the arrival was NEDIC 6;000 FT. He said that two Company aircraft had descended to 4;000 FT after NEDIC that day and wanted to know if we saw any reason that they might have done so. There seems to be a problem with the way crews understand this arrival. When the RASKL arrival and ILS 5R are loaded in the FMC; there is no disconnect in the route. PECIT is the last fix on the arrival and the first fix on the approach. PECIT is loaded in the FMC with a 4;000 FT crossing altitude. I don't know whether these crews thought they had been cleared for the approach or made a mistake in understanding the descend via clearance. Since PECIT is on both the arrival and the approach; crews may think they are cleared to descend to 4;000 at PECIT with the descend via clearance. I think this is a new STAR and there seems to be a problem with crews understanding the clearance limit.

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	915129
Time
Date	201010
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	RDU.TRACON
State Reference	NC
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	STAR RASKL 1
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	FMS/FMC
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 177
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance

ATC reported that air carrier crews on the rdu raskl 1 RNAV were descending to 4;000 ft after nedie when the depicted clearance is nedie at or about 6;000 ft with no required descent until cleared by ATC after nedie. The rdu 5R ILS depicts pecit at 4;000 ft but it is not mandatory.