The flight crew of an MD80 set 29.48 vice the actual 30.48 in their altimeters descending through FL...

Attributes
ACN	920044
Time
Date	201011
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	LGA.Airport
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Altimeter
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Altitude Undershoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

Descending into lga; we received altimeter setting of 29.48. Non-flying first officer read back same. We got lower altitudes before capturing each prior cleared altitude. We finally reached 10;000 ft; leveled off shortly before we got descents to 8;000 and then 4;000 ft. We were vectored for the ILS 22 approach; landed and taxied to the gate.after checklists were completed; the standby altimeter didn't look correct to me. Upon further observation; I realized it was reading below sea level. We checked all three altimeters against each other and all were reading the same. I then rechecked the ATIS and saw 30.48 was the setting. Unbelievable.ATC never said a word the whole descent and approach when we had to be 1;000 ft low. I'm pretty sure center gave us the wrong altimeter setting; read back the incorrect setting and then missed it again after getting the latest ATIS. We never appeared too low; 'seat of the pants' wise. Everything was quite normal the whole descent; approach; and landing. I still can't believe everyone missed this.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The Flight Crew of an MD80 set 29.48 vice the actual 30.48 in their altimeters descending through FL180 into LGA. Neither the Flight Crew nor ATC noticed the error until the Captain noted the altimeters indicated below sea level while parked at the gate.

Narrative: Descending into LGA; we received altimeter setting of 29.48. Non-flying First Officer read back same. We got lower altitudes before capturing each prior cleared altitude. We finally reached 10;000 FT; leveled off shortly before we got descents to 8;000 and then 4;000 FT. We were vectored for the ILS 22 approach; landed and taxied to the gate.After checklists were completed; the standby altimeter didn't look correct to me. Upon further observation; I realized it was reading below sea level. We checked all three altimeters against each other and all were reading the same. I then rechecked the ATIS and saw 30.48 was the setting. Unbelievable.ATC never said a word the whole descent and approach when we had to be 1;000 FT low. I'm pretty sure Center gave us the wrong altimeter setting; read back the incorrect setting and then missed it again after getting the latest ATIS. We never appeared too low; 'seat of the pants' wise. Everything was quite normal the whole descent; approach; and landing. I still can't believe everyone missed this.

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.

The flight crew of an MD80 set 29.48 vice the actual 30.48 in their altimeters descending through FL180 into lga. Neither the flight crew nor ATC noticed the error until the captain noted the altimeters indicated below sea level while parked at the gate.