A320 first officer reports slowing to 210 KTS during a visual approach and being told not to slow an...

Attributes
ACN	948764
Time
Date	201105
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 12000 Flight Crew Type 420
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Speed All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Unstabilized Approach

Narrative:

We were cleared direct to the outer marker expecting a visual approach. We were at 6;000 ft 17 miles from the airport; so I slowed to 210 KTS. The captain told me not to slow any further; so I maintained 210 during the subsequent descent to 3;000. Needless to say; I wound up high and fast. On final; we got one GPWS 'sink rate' callout; but the captain said 'you're good; keep going' (or something similar). I had thought that I was too experienced to allow this to happen; but the captain had been overriding my decisions the entire trip; and apparently; I just got tired of it. If I had said; 'let's go-around' would he have approved it? Clearly; he didn't want to go-around. So; what's a first officer to do? When the captain says maintain speed; at what point can I slow? When he says continue; may I go-around? Old questions; no answers. We should have gone around; but in these circumstances; is the flying pilot really flying the aircraft?

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 First Officer reports slowing to 210 KTS during a visual approach and being told not to slow any further by the Captain. An unstabilized approach results and is continued to landing.

Narrative: We were cleared direct to the outer marker expecting a visual approach. We were at 6;000 FT 17 miles from the airport; so I slowed to 210 KTS. The Captain told me not to slow any further; so I maintained 210 during the subsequent descent to 3;000. Needless to say; I wound up high and fast. On final; we got one GPWS 'sink rate' callout; but the Captain said 'you're good; keep going' (or something similar). I had thought that I was too experienced to allow this to happen; but the Captain had been overriding my decisions the entire trip; and apparently; I just got tired of it. If I had said; 'let's go-around' would he have approved it? Clearly; he didn't want to go-around. So; what's a First Officer to do? When the Captain says maintain speed; at what point can I slow? When he says continue; may I go-around? Old questions; no answers. We should have gone around; but in these circumstances; is the flying pilot really flying the aircraft?

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.

A320 first officer reports slowing to 210 KTS during a visual approach and being told not to slow any further by the captain. An unstabilized approach results and is continued to landing.