CLRNC CONFUSION ABOUT WHETHER ACR LGT FLT WAS CLRED TO 6000 OR 8000 FT IN DSCNT TO SLC.
Synopsis
CLRNC CONFUSION ABOUT WHETHER ACR LGT FLT WAS CLRED TO 6000 OR 8000 FT IN DSCNT TO SLC.
Narrative
WE WERE TRACKING INTO SLC ON THE OGDEN 153 DEG RADIAL. IN SHORT ORDER; WE WERE GIVEN A HDG; ALT; AND RWY CHANGE FROM 16R TO 16L. AT THE SAME TIME WE WERE TRYING TO SLOW DOWN; CONFIGURE AND RUN THE CHKLISTS. PASSING 7700 MSL; THE CTLR TOLD US TO LEVEL AT 8000 FT. THE CAPT STOPPED THE DSCNT AND I INFORMED THE CTLR THAT WE WERE NOW AT 7500 MSL BUT WOULD CLB BACK TO 8000. THE CTLR THEN ASKED IF HE HAD GIVEN US 8000 INITIALLY. I TOLD HIM THAT WE UNDERSTOOD 6000. NOTHING MORE WAS SAID. I STILL DON'T KNOW IF WE WERE INITIALLY GIVEN 6000 OR 8000 BECAUSE NEITHER THE CAPT NOR I CAN SPECIFICALLY REMEMBER THAT INSTRUCTION. I DO KNOW THAT WITH 6000 THE GS INTERCEPT FOR 16L -- WE BELIEVED WE WERE GOING TO THE CORRECT ALT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 203278: WE BECAME PREOCCUPIED WITH REPROGRAMMING THE FMS; SELECTING; TUNING AND IDENTING THE NEW ILS FREQ; SLOWING THE ACFT DOWN; AND DSNDING THE ACFT TOWARD THE RWY. AFTER LNDG THE FO AND I DISCUSSED THE INCIDENT AND NEITHER COULD REMEMBER SPECIFICALLY ALL THE ATC COMMANDS THAT WERE GIVEN IN THAT XMISSION. HOWEVER; I (THE CAPT) WAS HAND FLYING THE ACFT AND THE FO WAS PROGRAMMING THE INSTRUCTIONS IN MODE CTL PANEL. ATC COMMANDS WHICH INVOLVE RWY CHANGES; HDG CHANGE; ALT CHANGE; ILS APCH CHANGE; FREQ CHANGE ALL IN THE SAME XMISSION TO A 2-MAN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ACFT CAN LEAD TO CONFUSION; ESPECIALLY TO A CREW EITHER NEW TO ACFT OR ARPT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.