AN A320 CREW ON A STAR MISSED A WAYPOINT ALT CONSTRAINT IN HIGH TAILWINDS AND TURBULENCE. THE CREW WAS FATIGUED FOLLOWING A DELAYED REDEYE.
Synopsis
AN A320 CREW ON A STAR MISSED A WAYPOINT ALT CONSTRAINT IN HIGH TAILWINDS AND TURBULENCE. THE CREW WAS FATIGUED FOLLOWING A DELAYED REDEYE.
Narrative
RAVNN 2 ARR INTO BWI. CAPT FLYING. CLRED TO DSND VIA THE RAVNN 2 ARR. FCU SET UP IN MANAGED DSCNT TO 6000 FT MSL. DSNDING WITH A STRONG TAILWIND; I SELECTED OPEN DSCNT TO FACILITATE MAKING THE 16000 FT MSL RESTR AT SACCO. I DID NOT CHANGE THE ALT WINDOW TO 16000 FT MSL FOR THE RESTR AT SACCO. PASSING THROUGH A CUMULUS BUILDUP WE ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT WHICH INCREASED OUR RATE OF DSCNT. UPON REALIZING THAT WE HAD DSNDED BELOW 16000 FT MSL PRIOR TO SACCO; I INITIATED A CLB BY SELECTING A POSITIVE VERT SPD AND A HIGHER ALT ON THE FCU. THIS RESULTED IN A SLOW CORRECTION BACK TO 16000 FT MSL. WE VERY QUICKLY REACHED THE NEXT FIX AT PIMBO ONLY 3 MI AWAY AND HAD TO DSND TO 14000 FT MSL IN 6.5 MI AT UDUDE. WE CONTINUED THE DSCNT WITHOUT MAKING IT BACK UP TO 16000 FT MSL. THE FO WAS PERFORMING ARR DUTIES INCLUDING GETTING UPDATED ATIS; PA; AND INPUTS TO THE FMS. HE DID NOT SEE THE ALTDEV AND I POINTED IT OUT. WE HAD A VERY HIGH GND SPD OF ABOUT 557 KTS. THINGS WERE HAPPENING VERY QUICKLY AND WE HAD TO MOVE ON WITH THE ARR AND I DID NOT INFORM ATC ABOUT OUR DEV. THE LOWEST ALT I NOTED BEFORE PIMBO WAS 15000 FT MSL. APPROX 5 MINS LATER; ATC GAVE US A FREQ CHANGE AND ASKED US TO CALL A PHONE NUMBER ABOUT A POSSIBLE ALTDEV. THE PF (CAPT) NOTICED THE DEV AND INFORMED THE PNF. WITH THE STRONG TAILWINDS; RESULTING HIGH GND SPD; MANY STEPDOWN RESTR; AND ARR DUTIES; I DID NOT GET IN A CALL TO ATC TO INFORM THEM OF THE DEV. UPON NOTICING THE DSCNT BELOW THE DEPICTED ALT ON THE ARR; I SELECTED A HIGHER ALT AND POSITIVE VERT SPD ON THE FCU. I POINTED OUT THE ALT ERROR TO THE FO. I THEN RESET THE FCU TO A MANAGED DSCNT TO CONTINUE THE CHARTED ARR. AFTER LNDG; I CALLED THE PHONE NUMBER GIVEN AND SPOKE TO THE APCH CTL STAFF. THEY ASKED ME FOR MY CONTACT INFO AND SAID THAT ALTHOUGH THEY DO NOT THINK THAT ANYTHING WILL COME OF IT; THEY ARE INVESTIGATING A POSSIBLE ALTDEV. I ASKED IF THERE WAS ANY TFC CONFLICT AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS NOT. A LONG EXTENDED DUTY DAY STARTED WITH 2 ACFT SWAPS ON THE FIRST LEG OF THE DAY DUE TO MAINT PROBS. THE DELAYS RESULTED IN A BACKSIDE OF THE CLOCK FLT EXTENDING LONG INTO THE DAYTIME HRS. ADDITIONAL FACTORS WERE THE PREVAILING STRONG TAILWINDS; TRAVERSING A CONVECTIVE AIR MASS; AND AN ARR PROC WITH MANY CLOSELY SPACED ALT CHANGING RESTRS; AND THE AIRBUS AUTOMATION PERFORMANCE LIMITATIONS. THE PF'S FAILURE TO CHANGE THE SELECTED ALT IN THE FCU WHEN CHANGING FROM A MANAGED DSCNT TO AN OPEN DSCNT AND NOT DISCONNECTING THE AUTOPLT TO EXPEDITE THE RECOVERY RESULTED IN DSNDING BELOW THE SPECIFIED ALT. NOT BEING ABLE TO GET IN A CALL TO ATC TO INFORM THEM OF THE DEV DUE TO THE HIGH WORKLOAD SITUATION DID NOT HELP ATC. INCREASED VIGILANCE ON THE DSCNT PROFILE WHEN ENCOUNTERING STRONG TAILWINDS AND THE APPLICATION OF THE PROPER PROCS TO MANAGE THE DSCNT WOULD HELP TO ENSURE THAT THE ACFT REMAINS ON THE CHARTED PROFILE. ADDITIONALLY; IT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL TO HAVE THE PNF PLAN NON CRITICAL DUTIES AT A TIME WHEN NOT PERFORMING MANY XING RESTRS. BEING AWARE OF POSSIBLE CREW FATIGUE SHOULD BE CAUSE FOR EXTRA VIGILANCE ALSO. THIS ARR IS DIFFICULT TO EXECUTE IN NORMAL CONDITIONS AS THERE IS ONLY 3 MI TO LEVEL OFF AT SACCO AT 16000 FT MSL AND THEN BEGIN A NEW DSCNT TO UDUDE AT 14000 FT MSL. WITH THE MANEUVERING LIMITATIONS OF THE AUTOMATION ON THE AIRBUS; THAT IS A CHALLENGING PROFILE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 781925: WE WERE CLRED TO DSND VIA THE RAVNN 2 ARR FROM FL240. 6000 FT WAS SELECTED BY THE CAPT AND CONFIRMED BY ME PER THE ARR. AFTER A MANAGED DSCNT WAS INITIATED; I CONTINUED WITH MY PNF DUTIES. THESE INCLUDED A BRIEF PA TO THE PAX; ENTERING THE APPROPRIATE LNDG INFO ON THE PERFORMANCE PAGE OF THE MCDU; COMPLETING THE DSCNT APCH CHKLIST; AND MAKING SURE WE HAD THE MOST CURRENT ATIS INFO AS IT WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE. I WAS PERFORMING MY PNF DUTIES WHEN I WAS INFORMED BY THE CAPT THAT HE MAY HAVE JUST BUSTED AN ALT RESTR AT SACCO. I DISCONNECTED MY DUTIES AND DOUBLECHKED THE ARR TO SEE IF THERE WAS A DISCREPANCY. I WAS UNAWARE THAT THE CAPT CHOSE AN OPEN DSCNT PROFILE AFTER HE INITIALLY CHOSE A MANAGED PROFILE FOR THE DSCNT. I'M SURE HE CHOSE TO FOREGO INFORMING ME BECAUSE I WAS BUSY MAKING THE PA WHEN HE SELECTED AN OPEN DSCNT TO BE SURE TO MAKE THE XING RESTR. ADDITIONALLY; I BELIEVE WE WERE BOTH FATIGUED AFTER ENCOUNTERING 2 BROKEN ACFT IN ZZZ; DEPARTING ZZZ 3 HRS LATE; AND ARRIVING IN BWI 2 HRS LATE AT THE END OF A RED-EYE.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.