Narrative:

I was pilot flying during the arrival into pdx. Weather was unlimited visibility with broken clouds at about 20;000 ft. We were on the Bonvl6 arrival and had been cleared to descend to 5;500 ft (which is the MDA for that area). We reported the airport in sight somewhere below 10;000 ft but above the previously cleared altitude of 5;500 ft. Pdx approach cleared us for the visual approach to runway 28R to cross toloc FAF above 2;000 ft. I proceeded direct to toloc and disconnected the autoflight and took over manual control of the aircraft.I continued descent through 5;500 ft on my way to 2;000 ft. When passing through approximately 4;300 ft the egpws aural alert 'caution terrain' sounded. I immediately leveled off and started scanning visually outside for terrain. Although the visibility was unlimited; the aircraft was still over the high terrain to the east of the airport; which is an unpopulated and unlit area. I couldn't acquire adequate visual contact with the ground; and approximately 10-15 seconds after the initial egpws alert sounded we got a 'terrain; terrain pull up' and associated aural alert. I immediately applied the ground proximity recovery procedure and started a climb back towards the previously cleared 5;500 ft. The engines spooled up somewhat slowly and I didn't get the throttles into the full toga detent before we had climbed back up to about 5;300 ft. The egpws alert stopped not long after initiating the climb.the captain contacted pdx approach to ask what a good altitude was for the area we were in. Pdx approach stated that 5;500 ft was the MDA; but we were now west of the terrain. After assessing that we were at a safe altitude and fully recovered; I continued the approach to a normal landing at pdx on runway 28R. I believe it is important to note that we had been cleared for the visual approach to 28R; and not specifically for the 'mill visual' approach. The mill visual routes over the columbia river towards the paper mill at camas; wa before turning back south to intercept final for 28R/left.I am familiar with the area having grown up [nearby] and have also flown into pdx numerous times during my career. I believe my familiarity of the area led to complacency on my part. I also believe a long duty day combined with being awake for a longer time than I'm used to contribute to the incident. In addition; I believe our clearance for the visual approach to 28R with a clearance to cross toloc at 2;000 ft instead of a clearance for the 'mill visual' was a contributing factor.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Inbound from the east on a clear day; an A319 flight crew cleared for a visual approach to PDX received a EGPWS 'CAUTION TERRAIN' alert followed shortly by a 'PULL UP; TERRAIN' warning with which they complied.

Narrative: I was pilot flying during the arrival into PDX. Weather was unlimited visibility with broken clouds at about 20;000 FT. We were on the Bonvl6 arrival and had been cleared to descend to 5;500 FT (which is the MDA for that area). We reported the airport in sight somewhere below 10;000 FT but above the previously cleared altitude of 5;500 FT. PDX Approach cleared us for the visual approach to Runway 28R to cross TOLOC FAF above 2;000 FT. I proceeded direct to TOLOC and disconnected the autoflight and took over manual control of the aircraft.I continued descent through 5;500 FT on my way to 2;000 FT. When passing through approximately 4;300 FT the EGPWS aural alert 'Caution Terrain' sounded. I immediately leveled off and started scanning visually outside for terrain. Although the visibility was unlimited; the aircraft was still over the high terrain to the east of the airport; which is an unpopulated and unlit area. I couldn't acquire adequate visual contact with the ground; and approximately 10-15 seconds after the initial EGPWS alert sounded we got a 'Terrain; Terrain Pull Up' and associated aural alert. I immediately applied the Ground Proximity recovery procedure and started a climb back towards the previously cleared 5;500 FT. The engines spooled up somewhat slowly and I didn't get the throttles into the full TOGA detent before we had climbed back up to about 5;300 FT. The EGPWS alert stopped not long after initiating the climb.The Captain contacted PDX Approach to ask what a good altitude was for the area we were in. PDX Approach stated that 5;500 FT was the MDA; but we were now west of the terrain. After assessing that we were at a safe altitude and fully recovered; I continued the approach to a normal landing at PDX on Runway 28R. I believe it is important to note that we had been cleared for the visual approach to 28R; and not specifically for the 'Mill Visual' approach. The Mill visual routes over the Columbia River towards the paper mill at Camas; WA before turning back south to intercept final for 28R/L.I am familiar with the area having grown up [nearby] and have also flown into PDX numerous times during my career. I believe my familiarity of the area led to complacency on my part. I also believe a long duty day combined with being awake for a longer time than I'm used to contribute to the incident. In addition; I believe our clearance for the visual approach to 28R with a clearance to cross TOLOC at 2;000 FT instead of a clearance for the 'Mill Visual' was a contributing factor.

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.