LGT DSNDS BELOW GS INTERCEPT ALT.

Date: 1995-02 · Aircraft: Commercial Fixed Wing · Phase: approach

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

Synopsis

LGT DSNDS BELOW GS INTERCEPT ALT.

Narrative

APCHING MOSCOW; WE WERE REQUIRED TO HOLD FOR 30 MIN AS RWY 25L WAS PLOWED FOR SNOW. THE HOLDING PATTERN WAS 20 NM W OF THE ARPT. WE HELD AT 7500 METERS (FL246); I OBTAINED INFO 'D' (ATIS). MOSCOW APCH CTL INSTRUCTED US TO DEPART THE HOLDING FIX AND PROCEED TO THE ARPT; WE WERE GIVEN RADAR VECTORS TO THE N AND E OF THE ARPT FOR THE RWY 25L ILS APCH. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SETTING THE ALTIMETERS TO QFE; THE DSCNT AND APCH CHKLISTS WERE COMPLETED ON DOWNWIND. WE WERE GIVEN 7 DIFFERENT ALTS TO MAINTAIN BTWN DEPARTING THE HOLDING FIX AND INTERCEPTING FINAL APCH. EACH ALT GIVEN WAS IN METERS WHICH WE HAD TO CONVERT TO FEET. IN ADDITION; WE INFORMED THE CTLR ON DOWNWIND WE HAD 'D' INFO WHICH WE ACKNOWLEDGED. ON BASE; WITH A DIFFERENT CTLR; HE SAID THE INFO WAS NOW 'F' WHICH HE INSTRUCTED US TO GET. WHILE THIS DIALOGUE WAS OCCURRING; WE WERE GIVEN A VERY TIGHT TFC PATTERN; WHICH REQUIRED A HIGH RATE OF DSCNT (2500 FPM). WHEN WE WERE ABLE TO DETERMINE THE CORRECT ALTIMETER SETTING IN QFE; WE WERE ON BASE LEG; CLRED TO DSND TO FINAL APCH ALT; AND CLRED FOR THE APCH. THE PF WAS VERY BUSY AND ONLY DE- SELECTED 29.92 INCHES ON HIS ALTIMETER WITHOUT SETTING LCL QFE. SINCE HE STILL HAD THE DEP ARPT ALTIMETER SETTING WE WERE APPROX 700 FT LOW. BOTH PLTS AND MOSCOW APCH RECOGNIZED THE PROB SIMULTANEOUSLY. ALT WAS MAINTAINED UNTIL THE GS WAS INTERCEPTED. NO FURTHER PROBS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 295278: PROB CAUSES: FATIGUE; LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES; METERS TO FT ALT CONVERSION; HIGH DSCNT RATE. PREVENT RE-OCCURRENCE: PRESET 'QFS' ALTIMETER SETTING ABOVE THE TRANSITION LEVEL AND HAVE IT READY TO CHANGE OVER UPON DSCNT BELOW THE TRANS/LEVEL. DON'T ACCEPT A HIGH DSCNT TYPE APCH -- ASK FOR EXTENDED DOWNWIND AND BASE LEG. PF (2 MAN CREW) SHOULD USE THE AUTOPLT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. THIS WOULD ALLOW HIM TO SET THE 'FCU' PANEL (ALT; HDG; AIRSPD) WHILE THE PNF HANDLED ALT CONVERSION; ATC RADIO AND LANGUAGE PROBS.

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