Narrative:

I've noticed that the new commercial 2 FMS data base does a few things different from the old commercial 1 data base. Specifically; in the commercial 1 data base; crossing restriction altitudes and speeds were only displayed on the legs page when they were required. On the commercial 2 version; these restrictions are on the legs page even if they are just expected. As an example; on the tigrr STAR into cvg; the tigrr intersection has an 'expect only' altitude of 11;000 feet. On the commercial 1 product; the legs page would have shown no crossing restriction; unless the crew made the input after it was assigned by ATC. With the new version; the altitude is pre-loaded; which means that if VNAV is enabled; the snowflake will come on as the aircraft nears TOD; and a crew that has not been cleared to descend may very well start an unauthorized descent; creating a major safety issue. Further; in the new data base the crossing altitudes for the FAF on ILS approaches (the only ones I have checked) are way off. For instance; fraze; the FAF for the ILS 18L in cvg; has a crossing altitude of 2400 feet; the FMS displays 4000. Krthy; for 18R; shows 3000 when it should be 2400 feet; payed; on the final to 4L in dtw shows 3000 when it should be 2600. Crew members seeing such erroneous data are going to not only become distracted by the incorrect display they see on their mfd; and they are also going to question the reliability of the unit and system as a whole. At the very least; this needs to be addressed by something stronger than just an ops note. It also needs to be addressed with the vendor to fix this issue; as it is different than what we are 'programmed' to be ready for.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier Captain expresses some dissatisfaction with the new FMS data base depiction of arrivals and approaches from a Commercial data base supplier. Namely that expected altitudes on an arrival are inserted as hard altitudes by the FMC and many final approach fix altitudes are incorrect.

Narrative: I've noticed that the new Commercial 2 FMS data base does a few things different from the old Commercial 1 data base. Specifically; in the Commercial 1 data base; crossing restriction altitudes and speeds were only displayed on the legs page when they were REQUIRED. On the Commercial 2 version; these restrictions are on the legs page even if they are just EXPECTED. As an example; on the TIGRR STAR into CVG; the TIGRR intersection has an 'expect only' altitude of 11;000 feet. On the Commercial 1 product; the legs page would have shown no crossing restriction; unless the crew made the input after it was assigned by ATC. With the new version; the altitude is pre-loaded; which means that if VNAV is enabled; the snowflake will come on as the aircraft nears TOD; and a crew that has not been cleared to descend may very well start an unauthorized descent; creating a major safety issue. Further; in the new data base the crossing altitudes for the FAF on ILS approaches (the only ones I have checked) are way off. For instance; FRAZE; the FAF for the ILS 18L in CVG; has a crossing altitude of 2400 feet; the FMS displays 4000. KRTHY; for 18R; shows 3000 when it should be 2400 feet; PAYED; on the final to 4L in DTW shows 3000 when it should be 2600. Crew members seeing such erroneous data are going to not only become distracted by the incorrect display they see on their MFD; and they are also going to question the reliability of the unit and system as a whole. At the very least; this needs to be addressed by something stronger than just an Ops note. It also needs to be addressed with the vendor to fix this issue; as it is different than what we are 'programmed' to be ready for.

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.