A flight crew was alarmed at how low they were while flying the RNAV (GPS) Y; runway 14 IAP into ith...

Narrative:

We were on our descent into our destination. I told the captain he had communication 1 as I was going to communication 2 to get ATIS. While off frequency the captain was talking to ATC; I saw him dial in a lower altitude in the pre-selector and dial in 30.32 in the standby altimeter. Once I got the ATIS I switched back to communication 1 and told the captain I was back on frequency. I started reading off the ATIS at our arrival airport which included an altimeter setting of 29.32 and the approach in use; which was the VOR to runway 14. We immediately started to discuss that the VOR 14 was not in our data base and to request the RNAV Y 14.the descent transition checklist was called for. I dialed in 29.32 into my altimeter which set off the altimeter comparator lights. I looked over at the captain's altimeter which was set at 30.32 and the same in the standby altimeter. So I put 30.32 in my altimeter in the right side. The comparator lights went out and I continued on with the checklist. I then told the captain that I was going to switch to communication 2 to call the FBO. After notifying the FBO I switched back to communication 1 and announced that I was back on frequency. At that time we were at 3;100 ft on a heading to intercept the localizer.ATC asked; 'are you established on the approach?' I responded; 'no; we are just about to intercept.' ATC then responded; 'cleared for RNAV Y 14.' at this time we were VMC. Once intercepting we began our descent to 2;100 ft and leveled off. I told the captain; 'wow; this approach brings you in really low' and he acknowledged. I again told him; 'we are really low.' as we were on short final I commented to the captain that something was just not right.after we touched down and looked at what was written down we realized the mistake of the correct altimeter being 29.32. Therefore we were actually 1;000 ft low.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A flight crew was alarmed at how low they were while flying the RNAV (GPS) Y; Runway 14 IAP into ITH. Debriefing after landing they discovered they had set 30.32 in their altimeters vice the actual altimeter setting of 29.32 and were 1;000 FT lower at each stage than their altimeters indicated.

Narrative: We were on our descent into our destination. I told the Captain he had COM 1 as I was going to COM 2 to get ATIS. While off frequency the Captain was talking to ATC; I saw him dial in a lower altitude in the pre-selector and dial in 30.32 in the standby altimeter. Once I got the ATIS I switched back to COM 1 and told the Captain I was back on frequency. I started reading off the ATIS at our arrival airport which included an altimeter setting of 29.32 and the approach in use; which was the VOR to Runway 14. We immediately started to discuss that the VOR 14 was not in our data base and to request the RNAV Y 14.The descent transition checklist was called for. I dialed in 29.32 into my altimeter which set off the altimeter comparator lights. I looked over at the Captain's altimeter which was set at 30.32 and the same in the standby altimeter. So I put 30.32 in my altimeter in the right side. The comparator lights went out and I continued on with the checklist. I then told the Captain that I was going to switch to COM 2 to call the FBO. After notifying the FBO I switched back to COM 1 and announced that I was back on frequency. At that time we were at 3;100 FT on a heading to intercept the localizer.ATC asked; 'Are you established on the approach?' I responded; 'No; we are just about to intercept.' ATC then responded; 'Cleared for RNAV Y 14.' At this time we were VMC. Once intercepting we began our descent to 2;100 FT and leveled off. I told the Captain; 'Wow; this approach brings you in really low' and he acknowledged. I again told him; 'We are really low.' As we were on short final I commented to the Captain that something was just not right.After we touched down and looked at what was written down we realized the mistake of the correct altimeter being 29.32. Therefore we were actually 1;000 FT low.

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	977144
Time
Date	201110
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ITH.Airport
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Light Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Altimeter
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 5450 Flight Crew Type 540
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

A flight crew was alarmed at how low they were while flying the RNAV (GPS) Y; runway 14 IAP into ith. Debriefing after landing they discovered they had set 30.32 in their altimeters vice the actual altimeter setting of 29.32 and were 1;000 ft lower at each stage than their altimeters indicated.