Narrative:

[On the] erlin arrival into atl [we were] vectored south of bwg for sequence. [We] finally got in line on arrival; following an aircraft that was above us and descending slowly. We were given FL240 [and] descended at 1;000 FPM; then given crossing restriction at erlin. [The] aircraft in front of us [was] still descending slowly and above us. At 3 degrees; [we] started down because the aircraft in front was a lot higher and I thought it was going to another runway or arrival. The aircraft was about 7 miles in front of us; [had] increased descent rate; and was coming through our altitude. I had to get a 10 degree left deviation because it -- airbus (A319) -- was a lot bigger than us. At erlin; [we] got a descent 2;000 ft lower. [The] airbus stayed at the crossing altitude; so I started down at a good rate to possibly minimize wake; again thinking the airbus [was] going to the south runways. After getting to our altitude; heard [the airbus] get descent to our alt and we were 5 miles in trail now. Had to get vector off arrival again to avoid wake; which after an 'almost' argument with [the] controller; [ended up] in his wake. Several more deviations [occurred] because [the airbus] would not descend at a normal rate. We were told several times to expedite descent with [airbus] above us. [The controller argued] that we were not descending below this aircraft in front of us. [The] controller acted if [he] did not know about wake or didn't care. This event [happens] almost every leg into atl; especially with the airbus. To stay out of wake is taking a lot of effort and is interrupting our duties. Aircraft on arrivals should be at least the same altitude a good distance out on the arrival and has been in years prior.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ200 Captain reported encountering wake vortex behind an Airbus A319 on arrival into ATL; commenting that ATC seemed oblivious to the dangers of wake encounters.

Narrative: [On the] ERLIN Arrival into ATL [we were] vectored south of BWG for sequence. [We] finally got in line on arrival; following an aircraft that was above us and descending slowly. We were given FL240 [and] descended at 1;000 FPM; then given crossing restriction at ERLIN. [The] aircraft in front of us [was] still descending slowly and above us. At 3 degrees; [we] started down because the aircraft in front was a lot higher and I thought it was going to another runway or arrival. The aircraft was about 7 miles in front of us; [had] increased descent rate; and was coming through our altitude. I had to get a 10 degree left deviation because it -- Airbus (A319) -- was a lot bigger than us. At ERLIN; [we] got a descent 2;000 FT lower. [The] Airbus stayed at the crossing altitude; so I started down at a good rate to possibly minimize wake; again thinking the Airbus [was] going to the south runways. After getting to our altitude; heard [the Airbus] get descent to our alt and we were 5 miles in trail now. Had to get vector off Arrival again to avoid wake; which after an 'almost' argument with [the] Controller; [ended up] in his wake. Several more deviations [occurred] because [the Airbus] would not descend at a normal rate. We were told several times to expedite descent with [Airbus] above us. [The Controller argued] that we were not descending below this aircraft in front of us. [The] Controller acted if [he] did not know about wake or didn't care. This event [happens] almost every leg into ATL; especially with the Airbus. To stay out of wake is taking a lot of effort and is interrupting our duties. Aircraft on arrivals should be at least the same altitude a good distance out on the Arrival and has been in years prior.

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.