Narrative:

A month after its implementation there is still too much confusion on how we are to set airspeed in to the mode control panel on the B777; and then coordinate the extension of flaps. I believe that it is important for those in the flight training department to consider putting out more communications and perhaps a training video that shows examples of how to comply with our new standards. On our flight inbound to the station we were descending in visual conditions at 250 KTS. At approximately 25 miles from the airport and descending through 7;000 ft ATC gave us an assigned airspeed of 180 KTS. I was hand flying at this point so the pilot not flying went to set the airspeed on the MCP panel. There was some confusion in our flight deck as to what the pilot not flying should set in the airspeed window of the MCP. There was further confusion as to whether he should just set the speed in there; or wait for me to give him a commanded speed. In the old days the pilot not flying would have just set the assigned ATC airspeed into the MCP window; and I would have verified that the correct speed was in there. At our weight the flaps 30 reference speed was 124 KTS. Based on this; which had previously been briefed; I thought the pilot not flying should set in a speed of 204 KTS in the MCP window. He wanted to set in 180 KTS; as that was what we had been assigned by ATC. Then there was the question back to me; what speed would you like? I said to set the MCP window to 204 KTS. Then I started to second-guess myself. Was I supposed to have commanded a different speed than what ATC had just assigned; or should the pilot not flying have known what speed to set for clean maneuvering speed based on our clean configuration. Should I have briefed all of this beforehand; or should we all know the expectations ahead of time - predictability? As a technique; should we have written down or set the flap 30 reference speed somewhere as a reminder or were we just supposed to remember the number? Would the fleet be better off to develop canned speeds that we always use versus having to look up and remember different speeds for each approach? Next was my flap 1 call out; - flaps 1-speed. Then the response back from the pilot not flying; do you want 180 KTS? I said; no; set 184 KTS; which was the flaps 1 minimum maneuvering speed. Then came my next call. Flaps 5 speed 180 KTS. From that point everything else went fairly smoothly during the remainder of the approach. There were 3 of us in the flight deck; each with a slightly different interpretation of how we were supposed to set the airspeed into the MCP window; what specific call outs we were supposed to make; and who was supposed to initiate the MCP airspeed setting process. After further discussion; I learned that just about every captain during the first month following the turn on of phase 2 did various methods of the SOP of how to properly slow the aircraft. There seems to be no standard that is understood by all pilots. In operations after my flight; I asked several other 777 captains on how they would have done things and amazingly I got different answers from each of them. One of the captains; like myself is an line check airman (lca); but yet neither of us were very confident that we were doing it right or even understood the proper interpretation of the SOP. I realize that with any change there will be a time frame necessary to integrate the procedures until they become second nature. I guess I am concerned that even after a month of having these new procedures in place there is still too much confusion amongst the line pilots on interpreting the proper SOP and the way it should be executed. If my flight was the anomaly; I would be ok with the status quo; but if others are still confused I would suggest getting a team of flight training center people together to figure out how to make all of this clearer. I'm not sure what the best way is to get a consistent message to our line pilots; but my initial thought would be to produce a brief video showing the proper call outs; that shows the pilot not flying and the pilot flying coordinating the art of slowing an aircraft the new way. We have 8 months before each of us will be exposed to a training cycle; which might be too long to allow different interpretations of the SOP to be prevalent out on the line. As an lca; I am concerned that we have lost the predictability in each other; and feel that further communications on standardization would be appropriate.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B777 crew is confused about the new procedure for setting the Mode Control Panel (MCP) airspeed during approach when the ATC commanded speed is below the current minimum maneuvering speed.

Narrative: A month after its implementation there is still too much confusion on how we are to set airspeed in to the mode control panel on the B777; and then coordinate the extension of flaps. I believe that it is important for those in the Flight Training Department to consider putting out more communications and perhaps a training video that shows examples of how to comply with our new standards. On our flight inbound to the station we were descending in visual conditions at 250 KTS. At approximately 25 miles from the airport and descending through 7;000 FT ATC gave us an assigned airspeed of 180 KTS. I was hand flying at this point so the pilot not flying went to set the airspeed on the MCP panel. There was some confusion in our flight deck as to what the pilot not flying should set in the airspeed window of the MCP. There was further confusion as to whether he should just set the speed in there; or wait for me to give him a commanded speed. In the old days the pilot not flying would have just set the assigned ATC airspeed into the MCP window; and I would have verified that the correct speed was in there. At our weight the Flaps 30 reference speed was 124 KTS. Based on this; which had previously been briefed; I thought the pilot not flying should set in a speed of 204 KTS in the MCP window. He wanted to set in 180 KTS; as that was what we had been assigned by ATC. Then there was the question back to me; what speed would you like? I said to set the MCP window to 204 KTS. Then I started to second-guess myself. Was I supposed to have commanded a different speed than what ATC had just assigned; or should the pilot not flying have known what speed to set for clean maneuvering speed based on our clean configuration. Should I have briefed all of this beforehand; or should we all know the expectations ahead of time - predictability? As a technique; should we have written down or set the Flap 30 reference speed somewhere as a reminder or were we just supposed to remember the number? Would the fleet be better off to develop canned speeds that we always use versus having to look up and remember different speeds for each approach? Next was my flap 1 call out; - flaps 1-speed. Then the response back from the pilot not flying; do you want 180 KTS? I said; No; set 184 KTS; which was the flaps 1 minimum maneuvering speed. Then came my next call. Flaps 5 speed 180 KTS. From that point everything else went fairly smoothly during the remainder of the approach. There were 3 of us in the flight deck; each with a slightly different interpretation of how we were supposed to set the airspeed into the MCP window; what specific call outs we were supposed to make; and who was supposed to initiate the MCP airspeed setting process. After further discussion; I learned that just about every Captain during the first month following the turn on of Phase 2 did various methods of the SOP of how to properly slow the aircraft. There seems to be no standard that is understood by all pilots. In operations after my flight; I asked several other 777 Captains on how they would have done things and amazingly I got different answers from each of them. One of the Captains; like myself is an Line Check Airman (LCA); but yet neither of us were very confident that we were doing it right or even understood the proper interpretation of the SOP. I realize that with any change there will be a time frame necessary to integrate the procedures until they become second nature. I guess I am concerned that even after a month of having these new procedures in place there is still too much confusion amongst the line pilots on interpreting the proper SOP and the way it should be executed. If my flight was the anomaly; I would be OK with the status quo; but if others are still confused I would suggest getting a team of flight training center people together to figure out how to make all of this clearer. I'm not sure what the best way is to get a consistent message to our line pilots; but my initial thought would be to produce a brief video showing the proper call outs; that shows the pilot not flying and the pilot flying coordinating the art of slowing an aircraft the new way. We have 8 months before each of us will be exposed to a training cycle; which might be too long to allow different interpretations of the SOP to be prevalent out on the line. As an LCA; I am concerned that we have lost the predictability in each other; and feel that further communications on standardization would be appropriate.

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.