Narrative:

This was an altitude deviation while on the eldee five RNAV arrival. The deviation occurs when I initiated a descent from 15;000 ft to 12;000 ft prior to pugee on the arrival. We had been previously cleared to descend via the arrival. At some distance prior to pugee; ATC queried our altitude; our altimeter settings; and then asked me several questions. When the event first occurred; my first officer had been off frequency with non flying arrival duties. He returned to the frequency at the time of the ATC inquiry; and attempted to tell ATC that we were returning to 15;000 ft. I interrupted the first officer and told ATC that we were descending from 14;300 down to 12;000 still believing I was correctly descending on the arrival. At this point I was in communication with the controller and continued with the assigned descent profile. I was subsequently given a number to call ATC upon arrival in dca. When ATC initially asked about our altitude; they asked me whether or not I was using the autopilot. The controller also asked some questions about what my arrival plate showed for crossing restrictions. The controller said they had made a recent change and some discussion about how many deviations were occurring on this arrival. Identification; the event was brought to our attention shortly after I began my descent from druzz; by ATC. Cause: there are several factors which I feel caused me to commit and altitude deviation. First of all; prior to the event we had been cruising at econ speed and enjoying a strong tailwind. Center asked us to increase to 280 KTS which really picked up our ground speed. We had been given at least two step downs and were then told to expect druzz at 15;000. This is not unusual; but the crossing was going to require at least 2;500 FPM rate of descent with the assigned airspeed. With that being said; I ended up well before druzz at 15;000 and at some point was issued the instructions to descend via the arrival. At this point I was ahead of the arrival and preset 12;000 our next at or above altitude; this was confirmed by the first officer prior to him leaving the frequency. Next I believe one of two things lead me to start my descent from 15;000 to 12;000 early. Druzz and revue are both displayed as 15;000 hard altitude way points; I believe I was mentally expecting the next fix I saw on the FMS to be pugee at 12;000. Additionally; I had my mfd display at the 10 NM ring which excluded pugee from my visibility. Response; once the event was identified; the first officer made an attempt to tell ATC we were returning to 15;000 ft; but I overrode his statement by telling them we were descending. I did this because I thought he had missed something while he was off frequency; when actually he was correct and I was in error. Suggestions; I feel that intermediate fixes with the same crossing altitude that are consecutive should be omitted. For example; instead of having druzz and revue at 15;000; why not have only revue be labeled 15;000. Then issue the descend via instruction at revue and not before. Additionally; in the future I will be more cautious when reviewing descend via procedures.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier on the ELDEE FIVE STAR into DCA reported a altitude crossing deviation at PUGEE noting a number of factors that led up to the error.

Narrative: This was an altitude deviation while on the ELDEE FIVE RNAV ARRIVAL. The deviation occurs when I initiated a descent from 15;000 FT to 12;000 FT prior to PUGEE on the arrival. We had been previously cleared to descend via the arrival. At some distance prior to PUGEE; ATC queried our altitude; our altimeter settings; and then asked me several questions. When the event first occurred; my First Officer had been off frequency with non flying arrival duties. He returned to the frequency at the time of the ATC inquiry; and attempted to tell ATC that we were returning to 15;000 FT. I interrupted the First Officer and told ATC that we were descending from 14;300 down to 12;000 still believing I was correctly descending on the arrival. At this point I was in communication with the Controller and continued with the assigned descent profile. I was subsequently given a number to call ATC upon arrival in DCA. When ATC initially asked about our altitude; they asked me whether or not I was using the autopilot. The Controller also asked some questions about what my arrival plate showed for crossing restrictions. The Controller said they had made a recent change and some discussion about how many deviations were occurring on this arrival. Identification; the event was brought to our attention shortly after I began my descent from DRUZZ; by ATC. Cause: there are several factors which I feel caused me to commit and altitude deviation. First of all; prior to the event we had been cruising at ECON speed and enjoying a strong tailwind. Center asked us to increase to 280 KTS which really picked up our ground speed. We had been given at least two step downs and were then told to expect DRUZZ at 15;000. This is not unusual; but the crossing was going to require at least 2;500 FPM rate of descent with the assigned airspeed. With that being said; I ended up well before DRUZZ at 15;000 and at some point was issued the instructions to descend via the arrival. At this point I was ahead of the arrival and preset 12;000 our next at or above altitude; this was confirmed by the First Officer prior to him leaving the frequency. Next I believe one of two things lead me to start my descent from 15;000 to 12;000 early. DRUZZ and REVUE are both displayed as 15;000 hard altitude way points; I believe I was mentally expecting the next fix I saw on the FMS to be PUGEE at 12;000. Additionally; I had my MFD display at the 10 NM ring which excluded PUGEE from my visibility. Response; once the event was identified; the First Officer made an attempt to tell ATC we were returning to 15;000 FT; but I overrode his statement by telling them we were descending. I did this because I thought he had missed something while he was off frequency; when actually he was correct and I was in error. Suggestions; I feel that intermediate fixes with the same crossing altitude that are consecutive should be omitted. For example; instead of having DRUZZ and REVUE at 15;000; why not have only REVUE be labeled 15;000. Then issue the DESCEND VIA instruction at REVUE and not before. Additionally; in the future I will be more cautious when reviewing descend via procedures.

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.