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First officer of a B737 descended from assigned cruise altitude by mistake since he believed that it was a change in altitude rather than heading.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 467920 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200003 |
| Day | Sat |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601 To 1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | atc facility : zny.artcc |
| State Reference | NY |
| Altitude | msl bound lower : 30100 msl bound upper : 31000 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Controlling Facilities | artcc : zny.artcc |
| Operator | common carrier : air carrier |
| Make Model Name | B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | cruise : level |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : first officer |
| Qualification | pilot : multi engine pilot : instrument pilot : commercial pilot : cfi pilot : atp |
| Experience | flight time last 90 days : 210 flight time total : 7000 flight time type : 4000 |
| ASRS Report | 467920 |
| 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 | atc equipment other atc equipment : radar other controllera other flight crewa |
| Resolutory Action | controller : issued alert flight crew : returned to assigned altitude |
| Consequence | faa : reviewed incident with flight crew Other |
| Supplementary | |
| Problem Areas | Flight Crew Human Performance |
| Primary Problem | Flight Crew Human Performance |
| Air Traffic Incident | Pilot Deviation |
Narrative:
Acknowledged heading (270 degrees) change by ZNY, then did not pay attention to PF. He put in and descended to FL270 instead of turning to a heading of 270 degrees. We descended about 900 ft before it was recognized. Contributing factors include lack of awareness of what other is doing and fatigue. We immediately climbed back to altitude. The controller said there was no problem.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: FO OF A B737 DSNDED FROM ASSIGNED CRUISE ALT BY MISTAKE SINCE HE BELIEVED THAT IT WAS A CHANGE IN ALT RATHER THAN HDG.
Narrative: ACKNOWLEDGED HDG (270 DEGS) CHANGE BY ZNY, THEN DID NOT PAY ATTN TO PF. HE PUT IN AND DSNDED TO FL270 INSTEAD OF TURNING TO A HDG OF 270 DEGS. WE DSNDED ABOUT 900 FT BEFORE IT WAS RECOGNIZED. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS INCLUDE LACK OF AWARENESS OF WHAT OTHER IS DOING AND FATIGUE. WE IMMEDIATELY CLBED BACK TO ALT. THE CTLR SAID THERE WAS NO PROB.
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.