A flight crew flying a river visual approach in light rain received a 'caution obstacle' warning fro...

Attributes
ACN	1275565
Time
Date	201507
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	DCA.Airport
State Reference	DC
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

Narrative:

While I was flying the river visual to runway 19 into dca I received an alert from the aircraft; 'caution obstacle.' at this time the autopilot was off and I was hand flying the approach making turns and following the river. It was raining which reduced my depth perception. I believed that I was a bit high and made an adjustment as I continued to descend along the river. I believe that I was pointed at the buildings for too long which caused the alert. When I received the alert I was just beginning a left turn to continue following the river and now realize that I am now low on the approach; I estimated about 200 to 250 feet low. I corrected for the deviation from the approach path and the alerts stopped. Having electronic flight path guidance as a backup for this approach will help prevent the deviation in the first place. If a deviation does occur; a faster and more aggressive correction will help.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A flight crew flying a river visual approach in light rain received a 'Caution Obstacle' warning from their EGPWS. They corrected by turning away from the buildings they had in sight. Then ATC issued a low altitude alert. The First Officer corrected and the alerts stopped.

Narrative: While I was flying the river visual to runway 19 into DCA I received an alert from the aircraft; 'Caution Obstacle.' At this time the autopilot was off and I was hand flying the approach making turns and following the river. It was raining which reduced my depth perception. I believed that I was a bit high and made an adjustment as I continued to descend along the river. I believe that I was pointed at the buildings for too long which caused the alert. When I received the alert I was just beginning a left turn to continue following the river and now realize that I am now low on the approach; I estimated about 200 to 250 feet low. I corrected for the deviation from the approach path and the alerts stopped. Having electronic flight path guidance as a backup for this approach will help prevent the deviation in the first place. If a deviation does occur; a faster and more aggressive correction will help.

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.

A flight crew flying a river visual approach in light rain received a 'caution obstacle' warning from their egpws. They corrected by turning away from the buildings they had in sight. Then ATC issued a low altitude alert. The first officer corrected and the alerts stopped.