2011-07 · NASA ASRS report 961669
An A320 flight crew; caught up in autoflight manipulation and company mandated airport procedural requirements; descended below the glide slope towards terrain triggering low altitude alerts from both Approach Control and the Tower.
As pilot flying I briefed and prepared for the LDA-A at LGA. ILS 22 was also briefed and loaded in the secondary route. New York Approach said to expect a visual approach to Runway 22. On base leg with field at in sight at 2;000 FT we were cleared for a visual approach to 22. At this time I called for the secondary approach to be activated. Outer Marker COHOP on LDA-A is 1;600 FT; Outer Marker GREKO on ILS 22 is 1;900 FT. In the transition to the visual (backed up by the ILS 22) I thought I needed to cross GREKO at 1;600 FT; placing the aircraft high on profile. I selected -1;800 FT/minutes Vertical Speed to intercept glide slope from above. As the Captain cross-checked he realized the aircraft was low on profile. At that time (approximately 1;600 FT) I disconnected the auto pilot; arrested the descent; and maintained level flight until re-intercepting the glide slope (at approximately 1;400 FT); and landed normally. Approach Control and LGA Tower informed us they received a low altitude alert. Spend more time flying the aircraft and less time managing the automation. Had I tracked the LDA-A course and flown a Visual Approach it would have eliminated a high work load in a time compressed situation.
I (pilot not flying) went to the MCDU and activated the secondary route. I then received a message that there was an ILS/RWY mismatch. This was due to the fact that; per the airport briefing page; we were to hard tune the LDA frequency in the RAD/NAV page for the LDA-A approach. I selected the RAD/NAV page in the MCDU and deleted the LDA IDENT/FREQ and then the ILS information automatically displayed.I [then] noticed that we were at approximately 1;600 MSL and descending. I alerted the First Officer that he was low and then noticed that the speed was approaching flap overspeed. I advised 'watch your speed; you're fast'. At this point the First Officer disconnected the autopilot; leveled and slowed the aircraft; and we intercepted the glide slope from below.I didn't remember if approach had handed us over to the Tower so I queried approach if he wanted us to to go the Tower? His reply; after a short moment; was to ask if we were still with him. He said he had a low altitude alert and to contact the Tower. After I switched to Tower frequency; the Controller said that he'd been trying to contact us and that he had had a low altitude alert and that we had been too low.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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