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A tracon controller reported inadvertently descending an aircraft below the minimum vectoring altitude.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1443020 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201704 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | N90.TRACON |
| State Reference | NY |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Medium Transport High Wing 2 Turboprop Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | Vectors |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Approach |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 27.0 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
Aircraft X checked in descending to 7000 feet with restriction to cross arrival fix at 7000 feet. I didn't need the aircraft to cross the fix at 7000 feet so I intend to give the aircraft a descent to 6000 feet without restrictions. The minimum vectoring altitude (MVA) is 5700 feet; the next MVA is step down is 4000 feet. I should have cleared the aircraft to descend to 6000 feet. I cleared the aircraft to descend to 4000 feet and the aircraft read back 4000 feet. I did not realize that I said 4000 feet when I meant 6000 feet. I notice aircraft is descending below 6000 feet. The aircraft was at 5600 feet and almost leaving the 5700 foot MVA area. I stopped aircraft at 5000 feet and the pilot complied. I did not climb the aircraft as the aircraft was leaving a MVA area and higher terrain was behind aircraft.I'm not sure how to prevent this. I have descended aircraft in this area to the correct altitude hundreds of time. I was not busy or distracted. The aircraft was the only one on frequency and had my attention. The wrong words came out and I did not catch it.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Tracon Controller reported inadvertently descending an aircraft below the Minimum Vectoring Altitude.
Narrative: Aircraft X checked in descending to 7000 feet with restriction to cross arrival fix at 7000 feet. I didn't need the aircraft to cross the fix at 7000 feet so I intend to give the aircraft a descent to 6000 feet without restrictions. The Minimum vectoring Altitude (MVA) is 5700 feet; the next MVA is step down is 4000 feet. I should have cleared the aircraft to descend to 6000 feet. I cleared the aircraft to descend to 4000 feet and the aircraft read back 4000 feet. I did not realize that I said 4000 feet when I meant 6000 feet. I notice aircraft is descending below 6000 feet. The aircraft was at 5600 feet and almost leaving the 5700 foot MVA area. I stopped aircraft at 5000 feet and the pilot complied. I did not climb the aircraft as the aircraft was leaving a MVA area and higher terrain was behind aircraft.I'm not sure how to prevent this. I have descended aircraft in this area to the correct altitude hundreds of time. I was not busy or distracted. The aircraft was the only one on frequency and had my attention. The wrong words came out and I did not catch it.
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.