Narrative:

During the descent on the dylin 1 arrival into ewr, I did not comply with the altitude restr of FL220 at dqo VOR. Although the captain and I briefed the dylan 1 arrival and reviewed it several times on descent, we were not aware of the altitude restr at dqo until ATC notified us when we were descending below FL200. I clearly overlooked the crossing restr at dqo VOR. Fortunately, there was no other traffic in the area and ATC stated that the altitude deviation was not a problem. I feel that this altitude deviation was caused by several reasons: 1) the air crew was unfamiliar with the dylan 1 arrival. 2) the altitude crossing restr at dqo VOR is labeled slightly different than the other crossing restrs. Instead of having an arrow pointing from the corner of the altitude restr box, the arrow is open ended and not attached to the altitude box at dqo VOR. 3) the altitude restr box at the dqo VOR is placed right below the dqo VOR identify box, thus making the crossing altitude restr less obvious. Although it is ultimately the pilot's responsibility to comply with all departure and arrival procedures, sometimes the published departures and arrs charts are so complicated and busy that some of the information blends in with other information. Sometimes human error is caused by having information labeled differently or having too much information in such a small area.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ALT XING RESTR DURING A NIGHT OP NOT MET WHEN A DC10 CARGO FLT OVERSHOOTS THE MINIMUM XING ALT AT DQO ON THE DYLIN ARR INTO EWR, NJ.

Narrative: DURING THE DSCNT ON THE DYLIN 1 ARR INTO EWR, I DID NOT COMPLY WITH THE ALT RESTR OF FL220 AT DQO VOR. ALTHOUGH THE CAPT AND I BRIEFED THE DYLAN 1 ARR AND REVIEWED IT SEVERAL TIMES ON DSCNT, WE WERE NOT AWARE OF THE ALT RESTR AT DQO UNTIL ATC NOTIFIED US WHEN WE WERE DSNDING BELOW FL200. I CLRLY OVERLOOKED THE XING RESTR AT DQO VOR. FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS NO OTHER TFC IN THE AREA AND ATC STATED THAT THE ALTDEV WAS NOT A PROB. I FEEL THAT THIS ALTDEV WAS CAUSED BY SEVERAL REASONS: 1) THE AIR CREW WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE DYLAN 1 ARR. 2) THE ALT XING RESTR AT DQO VOR IS LABELED SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHER XING RESTRS. INSTEAD OF HAVING AN ARROW POINTING FROM THE CORNER OF THE ALT RESTR BOX, THE ARROW IS OPEN ENDED AND NOT ATTACHED TO THE ALT BOX AT DQO VOR. 3) THE ALT RESTR BOX AT THE DQO VOR IS PLACED RIGHT BELOW THE DQO VOR IDENT BOX, THUS MAKING THE XING ALT RESTR LESS OBVIOUS. ALTHOUGH IT IS ULTIMATELY THE PLT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO COMPLY WITH ALL DEP AND ARR PROCS, SOMETIMES THE PUBLISHED DEPS AND ARRS CHARTS ARE SO COMPLICATED AND BUSY THAT SOME OF THE INFO BLENDS IN WITH OTHER INFO. SOMETIMES HUMAN ERROR IS CAUSED BY HAVING INFO LABELED DIFFERENTLY OR HAVING TOO MUCH INFO IN SUCH A SMALL AREA.

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.