MD80 flight crew reports an inadvertent frequency change that results in a temporary lost comm situa...

Attributes
ACN	957317
Time
Date	201107
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
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	Air/Ground Communication
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

I was flying and the first officer was working the radios. We were on the arrival and level at FL220. First officer was preselecting the approach frequency for the next radio change. He inadvertently flipped the toggle switch and made the approach frequency the active frequency by accident. We requested a descent and approach informed us that we were on the wrong frequency. We went back to the previous frequency and were given a descent to cross a fix at 11;000/250 KTS. We were able to make the descent restriction and there were no traffic conflicts that we were aware of.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 flight crew reports an inadvertent frequency change that results in a temporary lost comm situation. The First Officer believes that fatigue was a factor in this error.

Narrative: I was flying and the First Officer was working the radios. We were on the arrival and level at FL220. First Officer was preselecting the Approach frequency for the next radio change. He inadvertently flipped the toggle switch and made the Approach frequency the active frequency by accident. We requested a descent and Approach informed us that we were on the wrong frequency. We went back to the previous frequency and were given a descent to cross a fix at 11;000/250 KTS. We were able to make the descent restriction and there were no traffic conflicts that we were aware of.

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.

MD80 flight crew reports an inadvertent frequency change that results in a temporary lost comm situation. The first officer believes that fatigue was a factor in this error.