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Emb-175 captain reported confusion in the cockpit resulted when houston center and TRACON changed their arrival assignment multiple times.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1351940 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201604 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | IAH.Airport |
| State Reference | TX |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | STAR SKNRD4 |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance |
Narrative:
We were filed on the SKNRD4 into iah. Clearance routed us on the ZEEKK1 arrival. Enroute we were recleared back to the SKNRD4 arrival. Houston center then re-cleared us onto the ZEEKK1 arrival again; then to the DOOBI2 arrival. Prior to being switched to iah approach were cleared to descend via DOOBI2 arrival. We set the bottom altitude of 8;000 ft and began the descent. We checked in with iah approach and let them know we were descending via the DOOBI2. They acknowledged our check on and told us to expect runway 8L. We queried approach control on the runway assignment again because the DOOBI2 is usually used when iah is landing in a west flow. Approach confirmed runway 8L and said we should be on the SKNRD4 arrival. We were given a heading and a descent to 10;000 ft. Both the DOOBI2 and SKNRD4 share waypoints but they have different altitudes. To the best of my knowledge no vertical or lateral separation occurred. The frequent changing of arrivals was confusing to the flight crew as well as may have confused or led to a breakdown in communications between iah center and approach controllers. Less clearance changes may help this event from recurring.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: EMB-175 Captain reported confusion in the cockpit resulted when Houston Center and TRACON changed their arrival assignment multiple times.
Narrative: We were filed on the SKNRD4 into IAH. Clearance routed us on the ZEEKK1 arrival. Enroute we were recleared back to the SKNRD4 arrival. Houston center then re-cleared us onto the ZEEKK1 arrival again; then to the DOOBI2 arrival. Prior to being switched to IAH approach were cleared to descend via DOOBI2 arrival. We set the bottom altitude of 8;000 ft and began the descent. We checked in with IAH approach and let them know we were descending via the DOOBI2. They acknowledged our check on and told us to expect runway 8L. We queried approach control on the runway assignment again because the DOOBI2 is usually used when IAH is landing in a west flow. Approach confirmed runway 8L and said we should be on the SKNRD4 arrival. We were given a heading and a descent to 10;000 ft. Both the DOOBI2 and SKNRD4 share waypoints but they have different altitudes. To the best of my knowledge no vertical or lateral separation occurred. The frequent changing of arrivals was confusing to the flight crew as well as may have confused or led to a breakdown in communications between IAH center and approach controllers. Less clearance changes may help this event from recurring.
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.