A KING AIR 200 PLT INADVERTENTLY DSNDS BELOW MINIMUM ALT. WHEN THE PLT DISCOVERED THE ANOMALY; HE QUICKLY CLBED BACK TO ASSIGNED ALT.
Synopsis
A KING AIR 200 PLT INADVERTENTLY DSNDS BELOW MINIMUM ALT. WHEN THE PLT DISCOVERED THE ANOMALY; HE QUICKLY CLBED BACK TO ASSIGNED ALT.
Narrative
ON NOV/MON/03; I WAS ON APCH TO RWY 16 AT NORTHWEST REGIONAL (XNA) WHEN I DSNDED BELOW MINIMUMS FOR THAT AREA. I WAS CLRED BY APCH CTL FROM 6000 FT MSL TO 4000 FT MSL ABOUT 14 MI OUT. WHEN I SET THE DSCNT ALT IN THE AUTOPLT; I MUST HAVE SOMEWAY HIT THE TRIM BUTTON AND KICKED OFF THE AUTOPLT. WHEN I REACHED 4000 FT MSL THE PLANE CONTINUED THE DSCNT BELOW MINIMUMS. WHEN I NOTICED THE ALT WAS WELL BELOW MINIMUMS I PULLED UP AT ONCE AND CLBED TO A SAFE ALT. A FEW MOMENTS LATER XNA TWR CALLED TO TELL ME I WAS BELOW MINIMUMS; BUT I HAD ALREADY STARTED MY CLB. THIS WAS CLRLY PLT ERROR ON MY PART. I SHOULD HAVE HAD MY INST SCAN WORKING EARLIER. I WORK HARD TO BE SURE THINGS LIKE THIS DON'T HAPPEN TO ME. I HAVE NEVER HAD THIS HAPPEN BEFORE AND CAN ASSURE YOU I'M WELL AWARE OF THE SAFETY ISSUE IN THIS EVENT. I HAVE SPENT THE LAST 2 NIGHTS LAYING AWAKE THINKING OF ALL THINGS I SHOULD HAVE DONE TO PREVENT THIS. ON DEC/WED/03; I WILL BE IN WICHITA; KS; AND WILL BE DOING FLT TRAINING IN MY ACFT AND ALSO IN FEB; I WILL BE AT COMMERCIAL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR A WK OF TRAINING. AT BOTH OF THESE TRAINING EVENTS I WILL REVIEW THIS SIT WITH MY INSTRUCTORS AND DO TRAINING TO ENSURE THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.