ALTDEV ALT OVERSHOT IN NON ADHERENCE TO ATC CLRNC.

Date: 1993-07 · Aircraft: Widebody; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng · Phase: climb

Anomalies: deviation-altitude-overshoot|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|other-unspecified

Synopsis

ALTDEV ALT OVERSHOT IN NON ADHERENCE TO ATC CLRNC.

Narrative

WE DEPARTED DFW ON A WORTH 5 DEP -- TUCUMCARI TRANSITION WITH AN ASSIGNED ALT OF 10000 FT. THE CAPT WAS HAND FLYING THE ACFT. ON CLBOUT; DEP ASSIGNED US A WESTERLY HDG AND ADVISED THAT; DUE TO WX; WE WERE TO BE ASSIGNED TO INTERCEPT THE DFW 262 DEG RADIAL OUTBOUND WITH FURTHER CLRNC TO COME FROM ZFW. AS PNF; I ATTEMPTED TO ENTER THE NEW ROUTING INTO THE FMC USING MY FMC CTL DISPLAY UNIT (CDU). MEANWHILE; THE CAPT (UNKNOWN TO ME; HEAD DOWN FEVERISHLY WORKING ON MY CDU) SELECTED MANUAL VOR TUNING ON 117.0 AND WAS READY TO USE THE SINGLE POINTER (SELECTED TO VOR) AND RDMI TO COMPLETE THE INTERCEPT. I INFORMED THE CAPT OF MY DIFFICULTIES; HE DIVERTED HIS ATTN TO HIS CDU TO SEE WHAT I HAD DONE. ABOUT THEN; WE PASSED THROUGH 10000 FT. I THINK THE ALT ALERT LIGHT AND CAUTION SIGNALS ACTIVATED. THE CAPT PROMPTLY RETURNED THE ACFT TO 1000 FT. THE CTLR CALLED US AND STARTED TO ASK A QUESTION; BUT THEN STOPPED. END OF OCCURRENCE. FACTORS -- THIS WAS MY SECOND FLT AS PNF IN ACFT TYPE. ALL OF MY PREVIOUS FLYING WAS IN NON ADVANCED COCKPIT TYPE ACFT. MY INEXPERIENCE LED ME TO ATTEMPT TO GENERATE A COMPUTER SOLUTION FOR A SIMPLE MANUAL VOR PROB. THE CAPT (WITH 20 PLUS YRS AS CAPT BUT ONLY 100 HRS IN ACFT TYPE) ALLOWED ME TO DISTRACT HIM AT AN INOPPORTUNE MOMENT. ATTEMPTING TO REDUCE THE WORKLOAD THROUGH AUTOMATION CREATED A MORE DEMANDING SIT; DISTRACTING US FROM THE BASICS OF FLYING. RECOMMENDATION -- INTERNAL ACFT ALT ALERTS SHOULD BE SET TO ALERT FLCS FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION BEFORE ALTDEV REACHES SAFETY LIMITS/ FAA ALERT PARAMETERS. THIS WOULD PROVIDE FOR EARLIER CORRECT FLC RESPONSE WHEN THEY ARE MOMENTARILY DISTRACTED BY ANY OF A MYRIAD OF POSSIBLE SITS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 245833: 2 NEW 'GUYS' TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE COMPUTER -- I REVERTED TO A MANUAL INTERCEPT.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.