<< >> NASA ASRS Report 1237305, February 2015

A B737 air crew got low on the glide slope on final approach. There seem to have been inputs made to the mode control panel; which were unverified. This led the pilot flying to think the aircraft was in VNAV when; in fact; it was in level change; resulting in flight below the glide path.

Attributes
ACN	1237305
Time
Date	201502
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 1130
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

Narrative:

Vnav descent into ZZZ. Cleared approach after ZZZ intersection for 16L. Passing ZZZ intersection; level change was set. Altitude was set to 1;900 feet. App mode armed. Speed set to 180 and flaps 5 selected. Called for gear; flaps 10 and landing checklist. Captain set 100 feet for touchdown thinking we were still in VNAV. I did not verify that setting. I realized we were going further below glide path and cross checked the altitude. Realizing we were low I disconnected autopilot added power and climbed gently to intercept glide path.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 air crew got low on the glide slope on final approach. There seem to have been inputs made to the mode control panel; which were unverified. This led the Pilot Flying to think the aircraft was in VNAV when; in fact; it was in level change; resulting in flight below the glide path.

Narrative: Vnav descent into ZZZ. Cleared approach after ZZZ intersection for 16L. Passing ZZZ intersection; level change was set. Altitude was set to 1;900 feet. App mode armed. Speed set to 180 and flaps 5 selected. Called for gear; flaps 10 and landing checklist. Captain set 100 feet for touchdown thinking we were still in VNAV. I did not verify that setting. I realized we were going further below glide path and cross checked the altitude. Realizing we were low I disconnected autopilot added power and climbed gently to intercept glide path.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.