Air carrier First Officer reported SKED ATC issued a clearance to an unsafe altitude which puts responsibility for terrain clearance on flight crew.
Synopsis
Air carrier First Officer reported SKED ATC issued a clearance to an unsafe altitude which puts responsibility for terrain clearance on flight crew.
Narrative
The following event occurred on approach to landing in Bogota Colombia. Prior to beginning the descent; the captain and I had briefed the ISVAT3E arrival into Bogotá. We were expecting an approach of some kind to runway 13 left. The captain briefed the ILS Z 13L approach. At some point prior to or during initial descent; air traffic control changed our approach to the ILS Y 13L. The captain briefed the 'highlights;' including the approach frequency; inbound course; and landing minimums. Neither of us however discovered during individual review of the approach plate that this approach change resulted in a new minimum glide slope intercept altitude of a mandatory 13;000 feet. We continued the descent on the arrival; but only for a brief time. We were cleared direct FLOTE. Prior to reaching this fix; deviations left of course were required for a thunderstorm at our 12 o'clock. The deviations to the left were so significant that air traffic control eventually just cleared us to the NOR03 waypoint on the arrival. We continued to descend on the arrival from there. However at this point; we were high compared to the VNAV path. I vocalized this to the captain. The captain engaged the flight level change mode and bugged the speed somewhere around 220 kts. We began to configure by adding flaps; and the speed brakes were fully extended. Eventually; air traffic control cleared us to the AMVES waypoint; gave us an altitude of 10;000 feet; and cleared us for the approach; ILS Y 13 left. At this point; we had caught up to VNAV path and significant trajectory corrections were no longer required. Some point prior to 11;000 ft; I sensed something 'didn't feel right.' Before I could begin troubleshooting my suspicion; the captain realized we were too low. He discovered the 'mandatory 13;000 ft note on the approach plate; compared to our ATC clearance of 10;000. ATC made the correction at this exact moment also; and cleared us up to 12;000 ft for terrain clearance before I could ask for it. Almost immediately after level off; it was time to descend for the approach. The runway was in sight; the captain disconnected the autopilot; and a normal landing was completed. No EGPWS alerts sounded and the terrain displays remained dark (void of alerting colors).Multiple factors caused this temporary loss of SA (Situational Awareness). I have less than 100 hours in the airplane. I have never operated an airplane into South America. The STAR and approach plates are over-crowded with waypoints; restrictions for altitudes and speeds; and terrain markings. An approach change near top of descent combined with an immediate need for left deviations resulted in high task saturation and high aircraft altitude at night in unfamiliar airspace. There is an ATC language barrier; soft-spoken controllers with accents. Our manuals include notes that this region of the world; ATC may clear you to an unsafe altitude and the flight crew is responsible for verifying terrain clearance - this is a highly unusual practice for me as I operate to nations and states where ATC will never intentionally issue a clearance that is not terrain compliant."
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.