Cleared to descend via the portj RNAV STAR to anc; a B747-400 flight crew failed to note an 8;000 ft...

Attributes
ACN	945475
Time
Date	201104
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	A11.TRACON
State Reference	AK
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B747-400
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	STAR PORTJ ONE
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Autoflight System
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 73 Flight Crew Total 5300 Flight Crew Type 313
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

Narrative:

ATC had cleared us to descend via the portj one arrival for runway 14. After passing portj at 11;000 ft I set the next lowest altitude of 7;000 ft in the altitude select window. The pilot flying chose to use the flch option of the automation which caused a quick descent to 7;000 ft. After passing through 8;000 ft approach control told us we were below the MEA and asked us if we could maintain VFR. We replied yes and looked at the portj one arrival to make sure we hadn't violated the altitude restriction of the arrival. The 8;000 ft MEA is published on the segment following portj; but there is no altitude restriction published at the end of that segment.because there is no altitude restriction following the 8;000 ft MEA segment it is easy to overlook the 8;000 ft MEA. I recommend adding a note in the notes section to point out the MEA segment.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cleared to descend via the PORTJ RNAV STAR to ANC; a B747-400 flight crew failed to note an 8;000 FT MEA on the PORTJ to POTTA segment and continued their descent from the 11;000 FT restriction over PORTJ to the next restriction of 7;000 FT at NONAI.

Narrative: ATC had cleared us to descend via the Portj One Arrival for Runway 14. After passing Portj at 11;000 FT I set the next lowest altitude of 7;000 FT in the Altitude Select Window. The pilot flying chose to use the FLCH option of the automation which caused a quick descent to 7;000 FT. After passing through 8;000 FT Approach Control told us we were below the MEA and asked us if we could maintain VFR. We replied yes and looked at the Portj One arrival to make sure we hadn't violated the altitude restriction of the arrival. The 8;000 FT MEA is published on the segment following Portj; but there is no altitude restriction published at the end of that segment.Because there is no altitude restriction following the 8;000 FT MEA segment it is easy to overlook the 8;000 FT MEA. I recommend adding a note in the notes section to point out the MEA segment.

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.

Cleared to descend via the portj RNAV STAR to anc; a B747-400 flight crew failed to note an 8;000 ft MEA on the portj to potta segment and continued their descent from the 11;000 ft restriction over portj to the next restriction of 7;000 ft at nonai.