NASA · Aviation Safety Reporting System
Air carrier Captain reported GPS jamming on the descent into ELP. Captain stated there was a late approach change, by ATC, contributing to an unstable approach.
What is ASRS?
The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.
Pilot narrative
Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the
reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time);
anonymization placeholders are ZZZ,
X, Y.
As I recall, We were on the SAMMR3 Arrival and set up for and briefed the RNAV RNP Z 22. Cleared direct FISPI, RNAV GPS Y cleared visual approach Runway 22. I believe the FO (First Officer) changed approaches in the FMS from “Z― to “Y―. It was a short approach vector, we accepted it obviously but now we were too high. Gear down, flaps 15, approx 5700 MSL. I called “unstable, going around―, which we executed. Vectors off the missed approach to the same approach, climb to 6500 MSL per ATC. Base leg was at 6500 MSL I believe, cleared visual approach Runway 22. FAF min altitude was 5100 MSL, so we were high again. Gear down, flaps 15, then fully configured by 700-800 AGL. VNAV would not engage as we did not re cruise from 8000 MSL on the missed to 6500 MSL. We were stable by 600 AGL, Aircraft X RAAS (Runway Awareness and Advisory System) audible was “Too high, Too high― which I believe was based on a descent from 8000 MSL. I was comfortable landing from a stable approach, touch down and landing were in the touchdown area with a short roll out. I haven’t been to ELP in quite a while, we were getting GPS jamming on the descent which was a distraction. I think the ATIS was advertising the “Z― approach, we were cleared the “Y― version.
NASA classification — Anomalies
- ATC Issue
- Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural
- Inflight Event / Encounter
NASA classification — Assessments
- Contributing Factors / Situations
- Human Factors · Procedure
- Primary Problem
- Ambiguous
ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.