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An air carrier captain; flying the ILS Z runway 36 approach at seqm expressed confusion over whether the charted 18;000 feet MEA over qit and the qit 177/6.0 DME should be flown as a flight level or an altitude since FL180/18000 are the transition fl/alts.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1132117 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201311 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | SEQM.Airport |
| State Reference | FO |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Boeing Company Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| 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 | No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types |
Narrative:
Possible altitude deviation. There is a lot of confusion on one specific crossing altitude on the seqm ILS Z runway 36 approach. The approach starts at qit VOR. The approach plate and the tailored company page both say 18;000 feet; however the transition level is FL180. So....do we cross at 18;000 feet or FL180? My copilot and I discussed this question at length. The copilot found on part one page 17.4-2 (international section): when flying at or above the transition level; qne altimeter setting (29.92' hg/1013 hpa) is to be used and the height of the aircraft is to be expressed in terms of flight levels. As a result of this paragraph; we crossed qit VOR and the next point (also to cross at 18;000) at FL180 with altimeters set to 29.92. Quito approach never asked us about this; however we are submitting a safety report because there is a doubt.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An air carrier Captain; flying the ILS Z RWY 36 approach at SEQM expressed confusion over whether the charted 18;000 feet MEA over QIT and the QIT 177/6.0 DME should be flown as a flight level or an altitude since FL180/18000 are the transition FL/ALTs.
Narrative: Possible altitude deviation. There is a lot of confusion on one specific crossing altitude on the SEQM ILS Z Runway 36 approach. The approach starts at QIT VOR. The approach plate and the tailored company page both say 18;000 feet; however the transition level is FL180. So....do we cross at 18;000 feet or FL180? My copilot and I discussed this question at length. The copilot found on Part One page 17.4-2 (International Section): When flying at or above the transition level; QNE altimeter setting (29.92' Hg/1013 hPa) is to be used and the height of the aircraft is to be expressed in terms of flight levels. As a result of this paragraph; we crossed QIT VOR and the next point (also to cross at 18;000) at FL180 with altimeters set to 29.92. Quito approach never asked us about this; however we are submitting a safety report because there is a doubt.
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.