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S56 TRACON controller reported an aircraft on vectors descended below the assigned altitude and below the minimum vectoring altitude.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1677945 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201908 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | SLC.Airport |
| State Reference | UT |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Light Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet 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 Developmental |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
Aircraft X entered my airspace at 11;000 feet and 210 knots on a STAR. He was requesting a change to a parallel runway. I told the aircraft [to] expect the assigned runway due to straight in traffic on their requested runway. Then a moment later I instructed the aircraft to descend and maintain 9;000 feet. The pilot read back the altitude correctly. A few moments later I told the aircraft that I would try to position them so that the tower may be able to move them over to their requested runway and to make the request with tower once I issue them a frequency change. After that transmission I noticed the aircraft was descending through 8;600 feet above an 8;500 foot MVA (minimum vectoring altitude). I quickly gave the aircraft a base turn heading 070 degrees - to turn them away from the mountains beside them - and maintain 8;500 feet. The pilot quickly complied but had already descended through the MVA to 8;200 feet. I did not issue a low altitude alert as there were more pressing transmissions to make; the short time of the event and the aircraft's close proximity to airport on a base turn. I then notified the supervisor and requested the tower issue a brasher warning after the aircraft had landed. This event was clearly a pilot deviation but I could ensure to improve my scan to catch the aircraft descending through their assigned altitude sooner.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: S56 TRACON Controller reported an aircraft on vectors descended below the assigned altitude and below the Minimum Vectoring Altitude.
Narrative: Aircraft X entered my airspace at 11;000 feet and 210 knots on a STAR. He was requesting a change to a parallel runway. I told the aircraft [to] expect the assigned runway due to straight in traffic on their requested runway. Then a moment later I instructed the aircraft to descend and maintain 9;000 feet. The pilot read back the altitude correctly. A few moments later I told the aircraft that I would try to position them so that the Tower may be able to move them over to their requested runway and to make the request with Tower once I issue them a frequency change. After that transmission I noticed the aircraft was descending through 8;600 feet above an 8;500 foot MVA (Minimum Vectoring Altitude). I quickly gave the aircraft a base turn heading 070 degrees - to turn them away from the mountains beside them - and maintain 8;500 feet. The pilot quickly complied but had already descended through the MVA to 8;200 feet. I did not issue a low altitude alert as there were more pressing transmissions to make; the short time of the event and the aircraft's close proximity to airport on a base turn. I then notified the Supervisor and requested the Tower issue a brasher warning after the aircraft had landed. This event was clearly a pilot deviation but I could ensure to improve my scan to catch the aircraft descending through their assigned altitude sooner.
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.