Air Carrier flight crew reported pilot flying a Visual Approach overshot the ILS approach course and descended below the ILS glideslope resulting in a Glideslope alert.
Synopsis
Air Carrier flight crew reported pilot flying a Visual Approach overshot the ILS approach course and descended below the ILS glideslope resulting in a Glideslope alert.
Narrative
Flight ZZZ1 to ZZZ; day one of a three day pairing with the crew. While in cruise ZZZ was advertising the visual approach to runway XX and VFR conditions with light winds. I was pilot monitoring and the First Officer was pilot flying. Upon obtaining the ATIS; the FO briefed the visual approach backed up by the ILS RWY XX. After; they conducted the Visual Approach brief checklist and covered any other pertinent information needed. Approximately 15 miles or so away from the field; approach control advised the airfield; both myself and First Officer had the field in sight. At this point; we were cleared for the visual approach at 4000'. The FO appeared to be attempting to intercept near ZZZZZ which is less than 6 miles from the runway so I made multiple recommendations to bring the approach out wider and attempt to intercept closer to ZZZZZ1 to allow yourself more time to get configured. With the autopilot still engaged; the intercept was made just outside ZZZZZ and the aircraft had overshot the final approach course. The First Officer turned off the autopilot and asked for me to disengage his flight director. They began hand flying the aircraft while I began plugging in appropriate speeds; missed approach and configuring the aircraft per the FOs request. While descending on the approach; they appeared to get a little low which was confirmed via the aircraft giving us an aural GLIDESLOPE" alert. The conditions were VFR and visual; so I guided the FO to shallow their descent path to get back on glide path. In the midst of all of this; getting behind the aircraft inevitably occurred as well. The landing checklist was completed later than SOP and there was one notch of spoilers that had been deployed. I was unaware the spoilers were used at any point and the FO stated that he used them on the initial descent into ZZZ but did not use them again. Continuing down on the descent approaching 500'; the FO questioned if we should go-around; at this moment the aircraft was in a stabilized approach and I advised to continue judging it would be the best course of action in the moment. We continued to landing with no further incidents. Cause: I believe the event occurred due to multiple factors simultaneously happening within a condensed period. The FO has had limited experience with Visual Approaches and elected to intercept closer to the IF instead of the IAF. Task saturation played a big role in both myself and the FO getting behind the aircraft causing multiple errors to occur. Suggestion: After we had arrived in ZZZ; I called the duty pilot to get a better understanding of what I could have done better in the situation and what I could do moving forward to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. He gave me a bunch of useful recommendations that I can now use to ensure this normalization of deviation does not occur again. Some areas that we discussed was ensuring that the FO briefs exactly how they intend to not only fly the approach but also configuration planning within the Visual Approach. This way; if something is happening against what they said; it gives you more time to call for correction. Another item was not being afraid to take the flight controls over. Not to diminish the FOs confidence but in order to maintain positive control of the aircraft in the situation. Hindsight is 20/20 and a go-around was warranted in this situation and I now know for the future what to do to avoid this from ever happening again and what to do if it were to happen again."
Second reporter narrative
We were cleared for the visual approach into ZZZ runway XX. We were vectored initially at 90° instead of taking it out and then coming back in for a better vector angle. I tried to take it out just a little bit and then come in pretty close to the intermediate fix. This resulted in an overshoot of the localizer and I disconnected auto pilot while flying by hand I lost track of glideslope being distracted with the checklist and speed and we got the glideslope caution multiple times. However; we were visual and elected to continue. Also; at some point; the flight spoilers must've been bumped into first position and the plane was being flown with power; as well as the flight spoilers out in first position. I did pull the flight spoilers intentionally earlier in the flight descending through 11;000 feet when we were going through a cloud; however I distinctly remember pushing them back up and taking my hand off the flight spoilers. They must have been in inadvertently pulled or bumped into first position. The corrective action was to level off; recapture the glideslope and follow that down into the landing.Cause: The cause of this event is rather simple to pinpoint. I think it is because I did not give myself a good enough angle to intercept. Next time I will bring it out and I will come in a little slower so I don't overshoot the localizer.Suggestions: Starting to train visuals in the simulator and teaching specifically how to vector the CRJ yourself onto one
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.