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An air carrier crew over mountainous terrain understood they were cleared to 10;000 ft; but while descending through 13;000 ft; ATC commanded a low altitude alert with an immediate climb to 14;500 ft. No egpws warning alerted.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1002650 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201204 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZDV.ARTCC |
| State Reference | CO |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Medium Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
We were assigned a descent to 10;000 ft. The first officer dialed 10;000 ft in the altitude selector; and I verified the altitude while is finger was on the knob. I then read back the clearance to 10;000 ft to ATC. While descending through approximately 13;000 ft; ATC asked us to verify we were cleared to 14;500 ft. I said we were assigned 10;000. He issued a low altitude alert and instructed an immediate climb to 14;500 ft. The first officer disengaged the autopilot and climbed to 14;500. We then re-engaged the autopilot and continued the descent and approach without incident. The GPWS never detected anything; and neither of us saw any amber terrain on the map; so I don't believe we were close to impacting any terrain. I have no way of knowing why the incorrect altitude was assigned. We knew we were still over somewhat mountainous terrain; so we could have asked him to verify that was a safe altitude.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An Air Carrier crew over mountainous terrain understood they were cleared to 10;000 FT; but while descending through 13;000 FT; ATC commanded a LOW ALTITUDE ALERT with an immediate climb to 14;500 FT. No EGPWS warning alerted.
Narrative: We were assigned a descent to 10;000 FT. The First Officer dialed 10;000 FT in the altitude selector; and I verified the altitude while is finger was on the knob. I then read back the clearance to 10;000 FT to ATC. While descending through approximately 13;000 FT; ATC asked us to verify we were cleared to 14;500 FT. I said we were assigned 10;000. He issued a low altitude alert and instructed an immediate climb to 14;500 FT. The First Officer disengaged the autopilot and climbed to 14;500. We then re-engaged the autopilot and continued the descent and approach without incident. The GPWS never detected anything; and neither of us saw any amber terrain on the map; so I don't believe we were close to impacting any terrain. I have no way of knowing why the incorrect altitude was assigned. We knew we were still over somewhat mountainous terrain; so we could have asked him to verify that was a safe altitude.
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.