B737-400 CREW HAD ALT OVERSHOOT IN MCO CLASS B AIRSPACE.

Date: 2000-09 · Aircraft: B737-300 · Phase: descent

Anomalies: deviation-altitude-overshoot|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|inflight-event-encounter-weather-turbulence|inflight-event-encounter-other-unknown|other-crew-coord|crm|sop-s

Synopsis

B737-400 CREW HAD ALT OVERSHOOT IN MCO CLASS B AIRSPACE.

Narrative

WE WERE APCHING MCO FROM THE NE AT 10000 FT. MCO APCH KEPT US HIGH. THEY THEN DSNDED US TO 6000 FT WHEN WE WERE APPROX 19 MI FROM THE ARPT. APPROX 1 MIN LATER; THEY CLRED US TO 4000 FT AND TURNED US TO A HDG TO INTERCEPT THE RWY 18R LOC. WE THEN RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS TO DSND TO 3000 FT AND ONCE ESTABLISHED ON THE LOC CLRED FOR THE APCH. I SELECTED APCH MODE ON THE AUTOPLT AT THIS TIME. IMMEDIATELY THE AUTOPLT CAPTURED THE LOC. THE CAPT AND I REALIZED THEY HAD KEPT US TOO HIGH AND WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CAPTURE THE GS WITH NORMAL DSCNT PROCS. WE REQUESTED A VECTOR BACK AROUND TO THE LOC SO WE WOULD BE STABILIZED FOR THE APCH. MCO APCH ASSIGNED US A HDG OF 270 DEGS AND TO AMEND OUR ALT TO MAINTAIN 4000 FT. THE CAPT SELECTED 4000 FT IN THE ALT SELECT WINDOW AND I VERBALLY CONFIRMED IT. AT THE SAME TIME WAS TRYING TO GET THE AUTOPLT TO TURN TO A HDG OF 270 DEGS. I WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY GETTING THE HDG SELECT MODE TO ENGAGE SO I DISENGAGED THE AUTOPLT AND HAND FLEW THE ACFT TO A 270 DEG HDG. AT THIS TIME I RECALL WE WERE DSNDING OUT OF 4500 FT AND MCO APCH TOLD US TO TURN TO A 020 DEG HDG AND MAINTAIN 220 KTS. AT THIS TIME I RECALL BEING CLOSE TO 4000 FT. MCO APCH IMMEDIATELY TOLD US TO TURN TO 150 DEG HDG AND MAINTAIN 220 KTS. HE THEN TOLD US TO JOIN THE LOC AND RECLRED US FOR THE APCH. BTWN THE 270 DEG HDG ASSIGNMENT AND THE 020 DEG HDG ASSIGNMENT IS WHEN THE ALT ALERTER WENT OFF. THE CAPT TOLD ME TO MAINTAIN 4000 FT. I LOOKED DOWN AT THE ALTIMETER AND IT READ 3700 FT AND DSNDING. BY THE TIME I STOPPED THE DSCNT AND STARTED TO CLB BACK TO 4000 FT MSL WE HAD DSNDED TO 3500 FT. MCO APCH TOLD US TO MAINTAIN 4000 FT WHEN WE WERE CLBING THROUGH 3700 FT. WE CONFIRMED WE WERE GOING TO MAINTAIN 4000 FT. WE JOINED THE LOC SHOT THE ILS AND LANDED ON RWY 18R WITHOUT INCIDENT. SEVERAL THINGS WERE FACTORS LEADING UP TO THIS ALTDEV: 1) MCO APCH BEING VERY BUSY WITH TFC AND STORMS IN THE AREA AND NOT BEING ABLE TO CLR US TO A LOWER ALT BEFORE VECTORING US TO AN ILS. 2) MY INABILITY TO SELECT HDG SELECT WHILE IN APCH MODE. (LACK OF FULLY KNOWING ALL THE CHARACTERISTICS OF APCH MODE ON THE AUTOPLT.) THEREFORE HAVING TO HAND FLY. 3) INCREASED WORKLOAD DUE TO HAND FLYING AND NOT COMPREHENDING THE ALT AMENDMENT EVEN THOUGH I VERBALLY CONFIRMED IT. 4) LONG DUTY DAY. I HAD BEEN ASSIGNED A QUICK OVERNIGHT THE DAY PRIOR AND HAD THE MINIMUM REST PERIOD. FATIGUE WAS A FACTOR. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 486440: VECTORED AROUND TSTMS N THROUGH NE THROUGH E OF ORL VOR. RECEIVING RADAR VECTORS FOR SEQUENCE RWY 18R. WE WERE HELD HIGH AND FAST APCHING MCO FROM E. TSTMS IN VICINITY. VECTORED TOO CLOSE TO ARPT FOR STABILIZED APCH. REQUESTED VECTORS OFF FINAL TO LOSE ALT. WE WERE AT 8500 FT MSL AT 15 MI FROM ARPT AT 250 KTS. FO FLYING DURING RAPID DSCNT. CONFLICTING TFC WAS FACTOR DURING DELAYING VECTORS WHICH CAUSED ME TO NOT CONCENTRATE ON ALT DURING DSCNT. TOLD FO TO MAINTAIN 4000 FT MSL (OUR CLRNC ALT) AS WE DSNDED TO 3600 FT MSL AFTER ALT ALERTER SOUNDED. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: APCH CTLR HELD US TOO HIGH AND TOO FAST TO COMPLETE A STABILIZED APCH. TSTMS IN AREA. TFC CONFLICT THAT DID NOT RESULT IN LOSS OF SEPARATION. FAILED TO CALL OUT 1000 FT TO GO. VERY HIGH WORKLOAD. LAST FLT OF DAY; SOMEWHAT TIRED. WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT RECURRENCE: ADHERENCE TO STOP CONCERNING ALT AWARENESS DO NOT ALLOW CTLRS TO VECTOR FLTS INTO UNACHIEVABLE FLT POS.

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