CL65 ACFT ON STAR WAS GIVEN A LATE DSCNT CLRNC TOO CLOSE TO MAKE THE XING RESTR. MAX DSCNT AND AIRSPD ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO BEING ABOVE 250 KTS BELOW 10000 FT. FLC FATIGUED FROM 7 LEGS AND FOURTEEN AND ONE HALF HR DUTY DAY.
Synopsis
CL65 ACFT ON STAR WAS GIVEN A LATE DSCNT CLRNC TOO CLOSE TO MAKE THE XING RESTR. MAX DSCNT AND AIRSPD ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO BEING ABOVE 250 KTS BELOW 10000 FT. FLC FATIGUED FROM 7 LEGS AND FOURTEEN AND ONE HALF HR DUTY DAY.
Narrative
WE WERE ORIGINALLY FILED FOR THE MOSEY 4 ARR BUT HAD RECEIVED VECTORS AND BEEN SUBSEQUENTLY CLRED DIRECT NABB VOR (ABB). WE WERE TIRED. THIS WAS THE LAST LEG OF A 3 DAY TRIP. EARLIER THAT DAY WE HAD EXPERIENCED MECHANICAL DELAYS; WX DELAYS; HELD TWICE INBOUND TO STL; HAD A LINE CHK; AND BY THE TIME THIS LAST LEG WAS COMPLETED WE HAD BEEN ON DUTY FOR OVER 14 1/2 HRS AND FLOWN 7 LEGS FOR A TOTAL BLOCK TIME OF OVER 9 HRS. THE XING RESTR INCIDENT OCCURRED DURING THE FINAL LEG WHILE INBOUND TO ABB VOR ENRTE TO CVG. THE STAR WE WERE ORIGINALLY FILED FOR; THE MOSEY 4; TOLD US TO EXPECT TO CROSS MOSEY INTXN (ON THE FAR SIDE OF ABB) AT 11000 FT. INSTEAD; ATC CLRED US TO CROSS 5 NM NW OF ABB (ON THE NEAR SIDE) AT 11000 FT. I READ BACK THE CLRNC AS USUAL (NAIVELY BELIEVING THAT ATC WOULDN'T ISSUE AN UNREASONABLE CLRNC) AND THE CAPT BEGAN A MODERATE DSCNT. SHORTLY THEREAFTER; I THINK BOTH OF US FIGURED THE ARITHMETIC OF THE SIT BECAUSE I SAID 'THIS ISN'T GONNA' MAKE IT' IN REF TO THE DSCNT RATE. AND HE SIMULTANEOUSLY DEPLOYED FULL FLT SPOILERS; REDUCED THRUST AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE (WE WERE IN ICING CONDITIONS AND NEEDED TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT N2 BLEED AIR TO KEEP WINGS/COWLS WARM) AND NOSED OVER TO MAINTAIN AN AIRSPD JUST BELOW THE BARBER POLE. WE COULD DO NO MORE. WE COULD DO APPROX 5000 FPM IN THE DSCNT BUT STILL MISSED HIGH BY APPROX 800 FT AT THE XING POINT. HOWEVER; WE WERE AT 11000 FT BY 1 NM BEYOND THE XING POINT. ATC SAID NOTHING. I HAD OFFERED TO CALL ATC AND TELL THEM SHORTLY AFTER WE REALIZED HOW CLOSE IT WOULD BE THAT WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE IT. BUT THAT IDEA WAS REJECTED. EVEN HAD WE BEEN ABLE TO GO TO IDLE THRUST; IT WOULD STILL HAVE BEEN A MAX PERFORMANCE MANEUVER AND STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY CLOSE TO IMPOSSIBLE. IN THE FUTURE; I WILL BE MORE WARY TO LOOK CLOSELY AT THE PROPOSED ATC XING CLRNC BEFORE READING IT BACK. AND IF IT LOOKS UNREASONABLE; IT WILL BE MET SIMPLY WITH 'UNABLE.' APPROX 5 MINS THEREAFTER; ATC ISSUED A DSCNT TO BELOW 10000 FT. WE WERE STILL AT 11000 FT AND AT APPROX 280 KTS WHEN THE DSCNT WAS INITIATED. PASSING 9800 FT; THE CAPT NOTICED WE WERE STILL ABOVE 250 KTS AND MADE A LEVELOFF/CONFIGN ADJUSTMENT TO QUICKLY SLOW AS REQUIRED. ATC AGAIN SAID NOTHING. WE WERE JUST GLAD TO ARRIVE SAFELY/FINALLY HOME.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.