Narrative:

We were cruising at FL370 185 miles south of shelbyville VOR when we were given a descent clearance to cross 125 miles south of shelbyville at FL350. We accepted the clearance; and I remarked to the first officer how I hated these types of clearances. It was a descent of only 2000 ft some 60 miles prior to the fix. I said that ATC controllers only did this to relieve themselves of their own responsibility to manage air traffic; while putting the onus on aircrew to comply with a clearance far down the road. Sure enough; at the point we should have started the descent we were performing the quick reference handbook checklist for a 'right reverser accumulator low' light it was a very odd failure because the light would not extinguish even after setting the right hydraulic system to high and turning on the aux and transfer pumps. Even though there was almost no radio traffic at this time of night; the ATC controller called to 'ask' if we were going to make the attitude restriction once we were only five miles from the fix. I immediately started to descent but with the tailwind; we arrived at FL350 late. I was upset with myself for letting this happen; but I was equally upset that this controller had set us up to fail. Then the controller watched us do exactly that while doing nothing to prevent it.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier described failed ATC issued crossing event alleging that controllers issuance of these types of restrictions are only to shift responsibility from ATC to the cockpit.

Narrative: We were cruising at FL370 185 miles south of Shelbyville VOR when we were given a descent clearance to cross 125 miles south of Shelbyville at FL350. We accepted the clearance; and I remarked to the First Officer how I hated these types of clearances. It was a descent of only 2000 FT some 60 miles prior to the fix. I said that ATC controllers only did this to relieve themselves of their own responsibility to manage air traffic; while putting the onus on aircrew to comply with a clearance far down the road. Sure enough; at the point we should have started the descent we were performing the Quick Reference Handbook checklist for a 'R Reverser Accumulator Low' light it was a very odd failure because the light would not extinguish even after setting the right hydraulic system to high and turning on the Aux and transfer pumps. Even though there was almost no radio traffic at this time of night; the ATC Controller called to 'ask' if we were going to make the attitude restriction once we were only five miles from the fix. I immediately started to descent but with the tailwind; we arrived at FL350 late. I was upset with myself for letting this happen; but I was equally upset that this Controller had set us up to fail. Then the Controller watched us do exactly that while doing nothing to prevent it.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.