Narrative:

An air carrier aircraft was on the geela 5 RNAV arrival into phoenix. The aircraft checked on and the controller issued him the descend via clearance with runway transition. The aircraft read back the clearance. A few moments later; the controller issued the aircraft direct geela (which is on the RNAV star) and comply with the speeds starting at geela. The aircraft read back the information correctly. The controller performed a radar handoff approximately 15 miles from the boundary. The aircraft was later shipped to the arrival controller. I; the flm; got a phone call from the phx flm inquiring why the aircraft was still at 25;000 ft and that the pilot said he never received lower. I went and check the falcon and tapes and verified the descent clearance was given correctly and read back by the pilot. Both were indeed done correctly. I spoke to the pilot on the phone and when I told him after reviewing the tapes that he acknowledged the descend via clearance. When I spoke to phx they asked for control on contact; which we gave. Since phx gave a descent clearance prior to the geela fix; it would cancel the RNAV window restriction over geela so technically I don't believe a pilot deviation or airspace deviation occurred. Quite frankly; I believe the pilot either got confused with the descend via clearance or just forgot to enter the execute in the FMS database. After speaking with the pilot and with the phx front line manager; I believe all parties agreed a simple mistake was made but corrected.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier on the GEELA 5 was issued a speed restriction prior to GEELA; but the new First Officer missed the DESCEND VIA clearance and the so the aircraft missed subsequent crossing constraints.

Narrative: An air carrier aircraft was on the GEELA 5 RNAV arrival into Phoenix. The aircraft checked on and the Controller issued him the descend via clearance with runway transition. The aircraft read back the clearance. A few moments later; the Controller issued the aircraft direct GEELA (which is on the RNAV Star) and comply with the speeds starting at GEELA. The aircraft read back the information correctly. The Controller performed a radar handoff approximately 15 miles from the boundary. The aircraft was later shipped to the arrival Controller. I; the FLM; got a phone call from the PHX FLM inquiring why the aircraft was still at 25;000 FT and that the pilot said he never received lower. I went and check the Falcon and Tapes and verified the descent clearance was given correctly and read back by the pilot. Both were indeed done correctly. I spoke to the pilot on the phone and when I told him after reviewing the tapes that he acknowledged the descend via clearance. When I spoke to PHX they asked for control on contact; which we gave. Since PHX gave a descent clearance prior to the GEELA fix; it would cancel the RNAV window restriction over GEELA so technically I don't believe a pilot deviation or airspace deviation occurred. Quite frankly; I believe the pilot either got confused with the descend via clearance or just forgot to enter the execute in the FMS database. After speaking with the Pilot and with the PHX Front Line Manager; I believe all parties agreed a simple mistake was made but corrected.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.