Flight crew of an medium large transport overshot descent altitude.

Attributes
ACN	323730
Time
Date	199512
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : mwa
State Reference	IL
Altitude	msl bound lower : 30300 msl bound upper : 31000
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zkc tower : bos
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent other
Route In Use	arrival other arrival star : star
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : cfi
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 100 flight time total : 6000 flight time type : 1000
ASRS Report	323730
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : overshoot non adherence : clearance
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : returned to intended course or assigned course
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

First officer was flying. Descending on STAR into stl. Cleared to FL310, I was distracted by flight attendant for a few seconds. When I looked back at instruments, I saw we had descended 700 ft below assigned altitude of FL310. Immediately returned to FL310. Beware of distrs during flight.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF AN MLG OVERSHOT DSCNT ALT.

Narrative: FO WAS FLYING. DSNDING ON STAR INTO STL. CLRED TO FL310, I WAS DISTRACTED BY FLT ATTENDANT FOR A FEW SECONDS. WHEN I LOOKED BACK AT INSTS, I SAW WE HAD DSNDED 700 FT BELOW ASSIGNED ALT OF FL310. IMMEDIATELY RETURNED TO FL310. BEWARE OF DISTRS DURING FLT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.