An erj-175 flight crew descended below the final approach fix altitude before passing the FAF. ATC i...

Attributes
ACN	1294430
Time
Date	201509
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Speed All Types Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

Narrative:

After being cleared to 2;500 feet on a vectored downwind for runway 5R; we called visual with the runway and were cleared for the visual approach to 5R/ call tower. We had discussed extending out past the FAF and how it would help with speed reduction whilst still in the descent and had agreed to turn in at [3 miles to the FAF] to give the first officer time to set up for the approach.as I checked in with the tower I did not notice we had descended below 2;500 feet and as tower gave us clearance for landing they issued a low altitude alert. For some reason the first officer had set a lower altitude before the autopilot had captured the 2;500 feet; we were still turning and outside the FAF. I called that we were correcting for altitude and watched as the first officer climbed back up with the application of throttle override.we had unrestricted visibility and recovered to a safe altitude whilst still in a position (in my experience) to safely conduct the approach; however during the recovery he had over sped the flaps by 4 knots. The rest of the procedure went fine and we were fully configured on a stable approach well above requirements for the landing.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An ERJ-175 flight crew descended below the Final Approach Fix altitude before passing the FAF. ATC issued a landing clearance as well as a low altitude alert. The co-pilot applied power to climb and in so doing; exceeded flaps 2 speed by approximately 4 knots.

Narrative: After being cleared to 2;500 feet on a vectored downwind for Runway 5R; we called visual with the runway and were cleared for the visual approach to 5R/ call tower. We had discussed extending out past the FAF and how it would help with speed reduction whilst still in the descent and had agreed to turn in at [3 miles to the FAF] to give the FO time to set up for the approach.As I checked in with the tower I did not notice we had descended below 2;500 feet and as tower gave us clearance for landing they issued a low altitude alert. For some reason the FO had set a lower altitude before the autopilot had captured the 2;500 feet; we were still turning and outside the FAF. I called that we were correcting for altitude and watched as the FO climbed back up with the application of throttle override.We had unrestricted visibility and recovered to a safe altitude whilst still in a position (in my experience) to safely conduct the approach; however during the recovery he had over sped the flaps by 4 knots. The rest of the procedure went fine and we were fully configured on a stable approach well above requirements for the landing.

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.

An erj-175 flight crew descended below the final approach fix altitude before passing the FAF. ATC issued a landing clearance as well as a low altitude alert. The co-pilot applied power to climb and in so doing; exceeded flaps 2 speed by approximately 4 knots.