Large transport aircraft on STAR arrival overshot assigned altitude by 180 ft.

Attributes
ACN	385600
Time
Date	199711
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : lax
State Reference	CA
Altitude	msl bound lower : 15820 msl bound upper : 16000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zla tower : sus
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	cruise other descent other
Route In Use	arrival other arrival star : star enroute airway : zla
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : cfi pilot : flight engineer pilot : instrument
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 90 flight time total : 15000 flight time type : 60
ASRS Report	385600
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
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 flying. Flight cleared to cross civet at 16000 ft and 320 KTS. Flight then cleared to descend via the civet two arrival. First officer hand flying descended approximately 180 ft below 16000 ft before descent arrested. Returned to 16000 ft until closer to civet. Civet minimum altitude was 14000 ft. ATC clearance was unclr as to what minimum altitude was (16000 ft or 14000 ft) required at this point on the arrival.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LGT ACFT ON STAR ARR OVERSHOT ASSIGNED ALT BY 180 FT.

Narrative: FO FLYING. FLT CLRED TO CROSS CIVET AT 16000 FT AND 320 KTS. FLT THEN CLRED TO DSND VIA THE CIVET TWO ARR. FO HAND FLYING DSNDED APPROX 180 FT BELOW 16000 FT BEFORE DSCNT ARRESTED. RETURNED TO 16000 FT UNTIL CLOSER TO CIVET. CIVET MINIMUM ALT WAS 14000 FT. ATC CLRNC WAS UNCLR AS TO WHAT MINIMUM ALT WAS (16000 FT OR 14000 FT) REQUIRED AT THIS POINT ON THE ARR.

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.