MD11 relief pilot reports difficulty locating a holding fix (sentr) assigned by ATC. The crew is als...

Narrative:

On this night I was the relief pilot and I was in the first officer's seat and initially the pilot flying; this duty was swapped just prior to the event. During the entire crossing the company had been requesting best forward speed to make up for a late departure. North of lake erie the company advised to slow due to weather and delays at destination. We slowed to approximately .77 mach. When we were handed off to center they revised our routing to direct to vhp; frizn; direct. The first officer returned from rest period and on our track center issued holding and a descent. 'Hold south of sentr as published 15 mile legs; descend to FL320. The captain put in what he thought was sentr (in actuality he entered centr) the FMS showed a fix towards chicago. The first officer was combing the charts for the hold. We again asked center to define the hold; they replied hold south 15 mile legs. I noted the spelling error. The captain took the aircraft and had me program the FMS. He slowed additionally for the hold. The aircraft was leveling at FL320. After entering the hold it was less than 10 miles off the nose with no hold depicted. We again asked them to define the hold at which they asked could we hold ppos [present position] 15 mile legs. This was an easy input; confirmed by the first officer and captain. I entered the hold; approximately 30 degrees into the hold the stick shaker and autothrottles activated. Captain selected FMS speed and the shaker lasted less than 5 seconds. I have flown extensively in the midwest and have never heard of this fix. It took me some time on the ground to find it. It is at the end of a radial off fwa that is not part of any airway or arrival. Center could not even define it for us. This was the last link in a speed error that had been sneaking up on us for 100 plus miles.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD11 Relief Pilot reports difficulty locating a holding fix (SENTR) assigned by ATC. The crew is also assigned a descent and a speed reduction is approved. Entering holding stick shaker and autothrottles activate.

Narrative: On this night I was the Relief Pilot and I was in the First Officer's seat and initially the pilot flying; this duty was swapped just prior to the event. During the entire crossing the company had been requesting best forward speed to make up for a late departure. North of Lake Erie the company advised to slow due to weather and delays at destination. We slowed to approximately .77 mach. When we were handed off to Center they revised our routing to direct to VHP; FRIZN; direct. The First Officer returned from rest period and on our track center issued holding and a descent. 'Hold south of SENTR as published 15 mile legs; descend to FL320. The Captain put in what he thought was SENTR (in actuality he entered CENTR) the FMS showed a fix towards Chicago. The First Officer was combing the charts for the hold. We again asked Center to define the hold; they replied hold south 15 mile legs. I noted the spelling error. The Captain took the aircraft and had me program the FMS. He slowed additionally for the hold. The aircraft was leveling at FL320. After entering the hold it was less than 10 miles off the nose with no hold depicted. We again asked them to define the hold at which they asked could we hold PPOS [present position] 15 mile legs. This was an easy input; confirmed by the First Officer and Captain. I entered the hold; approximately 30 degrees into the hold the stick shaker and autothrottles activated. Captain selected FMS speed and the shaker lasted less than 5 seconds. I have flown extensively in the Midwest and have never heard of this fix. It took me some time on the ground to find it. It is at the end of a radial off FWA that is not part of any airway or arrival. Center could not even define it for us. This was the last link in a speed error that had been sneaking up on us for 100 plus miles.

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	960197
Time
Date	201107
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZID.ARTCC
State Reference	IN
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-11
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Autothrottle/Speed Control
Person 1
Function	Relief Pilot Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50 Flight Crew Total 9000 Flight Crew Type 800
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Speed All Types Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

MD11 relief pilot reports difficulty locating a holding fix (sentr) assigned by ATC. The crew is also assigned a descent and a speed reduction is approved. Entering holding stick shaker and autothrottles activate.