An A321 flight crew--distracted by weather; a call from the cabin about an ailing flight attendant a...

Attributes
ACN	948654
Time
Date	201105
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A321
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Altitude Alert
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness

Narrative:

While in the descent a flight attendant called to advise an aft flight attendant was ill and being treated by a doctor. When the captain was finished talking to the flight attendant; the center called with a further descent to FL220 and holding instructions at a fix not on our route. The captain dialed in FL200 [in the altitude alert window] by mistake and we both missed it. At about FL214 ATC gave us a traffic alert and told us we were supposed to level off at 220. Captain turned off autopilot and climbed immediately back up to 220. We got as low as 213. We also got a TA from the TCAS. We saw the traffic ahead at approximately four miles away.this event was caused by many simultaneous distractions. [We were] dealing with a medical in the cabin; a descent and a holding clearance all at once. The off route holding was a bit confusing at first. We were already close to the holding fix and had to figure it out quick. ATC was very busy and we couldn't get through to ask a question about our holding instructions. We got complacent with altitude assignment. We simply got overloaded all at once and missed the captain's mistake on altitude knob.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A321 flight crew--distracted by weather; a call from the cabin about an ailing Flight Attendant and simultaneous clearances for an off route holding pattern and a further descent to FL220--mistakenly set the altitude alert window to FL200 and an altitude deviation and traffic conflicts ensued.

Narrative: While in the descent a Flight Attendant called to advise an aft Flight Attendant was ill and being treated by a doctor. When the Captain was finished talking to the Flight Attendant; the Center called with a further descent to FL220 and holding instructions at a fix not on our route. The Captain dialed in FL200 [in the altitude alert window] by mistake and we both missed it. At about FL214 ATC gave us a traffic alert and told us we were supposed to level off at 220. Captain turned off autopilot and climbed immediately back up to 220. We got as low as 213. We also got a TA from the TCAS. We saw the traffic ahead at approximately four miles away.This event was caused by many simultaneous distractions. [We were] dealing with a medical in the cabin; a descent and a holding clearance all at once. The off route holding was a bit confusing at first. We were already close to the holding fix and had to figure it out quick. ATC was very busy and we couldn't get through to ask a question about our holding instructions. We got complacent with altitude assignment. We simply got overloaded all at once and missed the Captain's mistake on ALT knob.

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.

An A321 flight crew--distracted by weather; a call from the cabin about an ailing flight attendant and simultaneous clearances for an off route holding pattern and a further descent to FL220--mistakenly set the altitude alert window to FL200 and an altitude deviation and traffic conflicts ensued.