MD80 flight crew descends below cleared altitude on approach to dfw.

Attributes
ACN	440550
Time
Date	199906
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : dfw.airport
State Reference	TX
Altitude	msl bound lower : 4000 msl bound upper : 5000
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : d10.tracon
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-80 Super 80
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Route In Use	approach : instrument precision
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial pilot : multi engine
ASRS Report	440550
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : excursion from assigned altitude non adherence : clearance
Independent Detector	other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Chart Or Publication ATC Human Performance Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Cleared for localizer intercept, descended through 5000 ft. Cleared to intercept localizer at 5000 ft, 12 NM. Descended through altitude, thinking cleared for approach. Kept high on final. Verified with approach and were cleared to descend to 4000 ft. Cleared for approach. Talked to TRACON supervisor. No problems encountered.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 FLC DSNDS BELOW CLRED ALT ON APCH TO DFW.

Narrative: CLRED FOR LOC INTERCEPT, DSNDED THROUGH 5000 FT. CLRED TO INTERCEPT LOC AT 5000 FT, 12 NM. DSNDED THROUGH ALT, THINKING CLRED FOR APCH. KEPT HIGH ON FINAL. VERIFIED WITH APCH AND WERE CLRED TO DSND TO 4000 FT. CLRED FOR APCH. TALKED TO TRACON SUPVR. NO PROBS ENCOUNTERED.

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.