Air carrier first officer reported initiating a descent from 3;000 feet early while on a visual appr...

Narrative:

I believe there was a misunderstanding of whether the captain wanted me to descend to 2200 now or in the near future. I always use approach mode and the descent start when glideslope is captured. The captain said if we don't we might have to go around if we are high.approach into grb; day VFR. I was the pilot flying. Descending in speed mode from FL230 down to 3000; 250 kts; boards fully deployed. Leveled at 3000; reported the field in sight then we were cleared for the visual to runway 36. I armed approach mode and waiting to intercept the localizer and glideslope while configuring for landing. At that time the captain tells me we need to descend to 2200 or we will be high. It was my first time in this airport and I was planning to intercept the GS at 3000. But I said ok 2200. Autopilot still on; I selected 2200 and started the descent; while initiating the descent I was looking outside and told the captain 'what about this 835 ft tower outside. I would assume we were at 2900; not exactly sure since I was looking outside. At this point the captain disconnected the autopilot and climb to around 3200. He was trying to get back to 3000 so I asked him if he wants the autopilot again he said yes; engaged it and we got back to 3000 while ATC asked us to verify our altitude and it was 3000. We intercepted the localizer after that and landed with no further issues.use the ILS as backup as if it's IMC even in perfect VFR weather.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier First Officer reported initiating a descent from 3;000 feet early while on a visual approach to GRB Runway 36 at the Captain's suggestion. When the First Officer asked about the obstacle ahead the Captain took control and climbed back to 3;000 ft.

Narrative: I believe there was a misunderstanding of whether the captain wanted me to descend to 2200 now or in the near future. I always use approach mode and the descent start when glideslope is captured. The Captain said if we don't we might have to go around if we are high.Approach into GRB; day VFR. I was the pilot flying. Descending in speed mode from FL230 down to 3000; 250 kts; boards fully deployed. Leveled at 3000; reported the field in sight then we were cleared for the visual to Runway 36. I armed approach mode and waiting to intercept the LOC and glideslope while configuring for landing. At that time the Captain tells me we need to descend to 2200 or we will be high. It was my first time in this airport and I was planning to intercept the GS at 3000. But I said ok 2200. Autopilot still on; I selected 2200 and started the descent; while initiating the descent I was looking outside and told the Captain 'what about this 835 ft tower outside. I would assume we were at 2900; not exactly sure since I was looking outside. At this point the Captain disconnected the autopilot and climb to around 3200. He was trying to get back to 3000 so I asked him if he wants the autopilot again he said yes; engaged it and we got back to 3000 while ATC asked us to verify our altitude and it was 3000. We intercepted the LOC after that and landed with no further issues.Use the ILS as backup as if it's IMC even in perfect VFR weather.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1457963
Time
Date	201706
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	GRB.Airport
State Reference	WI
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
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	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

Air carrier first officer reported initiating a descent from 3;000 feet early while on a visual approach to grb runway 36 at the captain's suggestion. When the first officer asked about the obstacle ahead the captain took control and climbed back to 3;000 ft.