Narrative:

Descent clearance was issued with a crossing restr. The captain (myself) got involved telling an emotional 'war story -- viet nam' and descent was not started until ZDV said 'say altitude.' I knew exactly what he meant and immediately started a flight idle and full air brake (spoilers) descent. Although I made the crossing, it would not have occurred without the professional verbal 'jog' from ATC. The obvious correction is to keep emotional stories out of the cockpit and always remain 'situationally aware' of your flight's progress.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CAPT OF A BAE146 (BA46) WAS SOCIALIZING WITH THE FO AND FORGOT ABOUT STARTING THE DSCNT FOR AN ASSIGNED XING RESTR UNTIL ARTCC RADAR CTLR INTERVENED TO INQUIRE ABOUT HIS ALT. HE IMMEDIATELY MADE A FAST DSCNT IN ORDER TO MAKE THE XING AT THE APPROPRIATE ALT.

Narrative: DSCNT CLRNC WAS ISSUED WITH A XING RESTR. THE CAPT (MYSELF) GOT INVOLVED TELLING AN EMOTIONAL 'WAR STORY -- VIET NAM' AND DSCNT WAS NOT STARTED UNTIL ZDV SAID 'SAY ALT.' I KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE MEANT AND IMMEDIATELY STARTED A FLT IDLE AND FULL AIR BRAKE (SPOILERS) DSCNT. ALTHOUGH I MADE THE XING, IT WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED WITHOUT THE PROFESSIONAL VERBAL 'JOG' FROM ATC. THE OBVIOUS CORRECTION IS TO KEEP EMOTIONAL STORIES OUT OF THE COCKPIT AND ALWAYS REMAIN 'SITUATIONALLY AWARE' OF YOUR FLT'S PROGRESS.

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.