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Air carrier flight crew reported language barrier issue with ATC caused altitude assignment too low for terrain during approach to mmgl.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1655274 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201906 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | MMGL.Airport |
| State Reference | FO |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Check Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
While flying the arrival into mmgl; ATC said we were number 7 for the app. ATC vectored off the arrival for spacing on the app. They gave us a heading and a descent to 7;000. I responded with the heading and 7;000. I thought the altitude seemed low for the terrain in the area; but he still had time to turn us in on the app and be clear of the terrain. We got to 7;900 MSL and ATC asked if we were maintaining 9;000 and asked if we were VMC which we were. It seemed as if he almost forgot about us due to him being very busy. We immediately climbed to 9;000 feet. And were then given a heading to intercept the localizer 28. Once on the app the plane started a descent before reaching top of descent which lead to us getting low again and receiving a terrain aural message in which we took the autopilot off a climbed back up. I believe the language barrier with ATC and him been busy lead to him giving us a clearance that wasn't ideal do to the terrain in the area. I should have been more proactive in questioning his instructions as I thought the alt was low for the area.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air Carrier flight crew reported language barrier issue with ATC caused altitude assignment too low for terrain during approach to MMGL.
Narrative: While flying the arrival into MMGL; ATC said we were number 7 for the app. ATC vectored off the arrival for spacing on the app. They gave us a heading and a descent to 7;000. I responded with the heading and 7;000. I thought the altitude seemed low for the terrain in the area; but he still had time to turn us in on the app and be clear of the terrain. We got to 7;900 MSL and ATC asked if we were maintaining 9;000 and asked if we were VMC which we were. It seemed as if he almost forgot about us due to him being very busy. We immediately climbed to 9;000 feet. and were then given a heading to intercept the localizer 28. Once on the app the plane started a descent before reaching top of descent which lead to us getting low again and receiving a terrain aural message in which we took the autopilot off a climbed back up. I believe the language barrier with ATC and him been busy lead to him giving us a clearance that wasn't ideal do to the terrain in the area. I should have been more proactive in questioning his instructions as I thought the alt was low for the area.
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.