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to descending on arrival: “…delayed the initiation of the descent…”; “Aircraft prematurely descended too early…”; “…late getting down…”; “During a descent…incorrectly cleared down…”; “…aircraft prematurely let down…”; “…lost situational awareness…”; “Premature descent clearance…”; “Prematurely descended…”; “Premature descent clearance while on vector…”; “During initial descent…” [Figure 3-9] 

Practicing good communication skills is not limited to just pilots and controllers. In its findings from a 1974 air carrier accident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wrote, “…the extraneous conversation conducted by the flight crew during the descent was symptomatic of a lax atmosphere in the flight deck that continued throughout the approach.” The NTSB listed the probable cause as “… the flight crew’s lack of altitude awareness at critical points during the approach due to poor flight deck discipline in that the crew did not follow prescribed procedures.” 

In 1981, the FAA issued 14 CFR Part 121, § 121.542 and Part 135, § 135.100, Flight Crewmember Duties, commonly referred to as “sterile flight deck rules.”The provisions in this rule can help pilots, operating under any regulations, to avoid altitude and course deviations during arrival. In part, it states: (a) No certificate holder should require, nor may any flight crewmember perform, any duties during a critical phase of flight except those duties required for the safe operation of the aircraft. Duties such as company required calls made for such purposes as ordering galley supplies and confirming passenger connections, announcements made to passengers promoting the air carrier or pointing out sights of interest, and filling out company payroll and related records are not required for the safe operation of the aircraft. (b) No flight crewmember may engage in, nor may any pilot in command permit, any activity during 

a critical phase of flight that could distract any flight crewmember from the performance of his or her duties or which could interfere in any way with the proper conduct of those duties. Activities such as eating meals, engaging in nonessential conversations within the flight deck and nonessential communications between the cabin and flight deck crews, and reading publications not related to the proper conduct of the flight are not required for the safe operation of the aircraft. (c) Critical phases of flight include all ground operations involving taxi, takeoff and landing, and all other flight operations conducted below 10,000 feet, except cruise flight. 

## Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs) 

A STAR is an ATC-coded IFR route established for application to arriving IFR aircraft destined for certain airports. A STAR provides a critical form of communication between pilots and ATC. Once a flight crew has accepted a clearance for a STAR, they have communicated with the controller what route, and in some cases what altitude and airspeed, they fly during the arrival, depending on the type of clearance. The STAR provides a common method for leaving the en route structure and navigating to your destination. It is a preplanned instrument flight rule ATC arrival procedure published for pilot use in graphic and textual form that simplifies clearance delivery procedures. 

The principal difference between standard instrument departure (SID) or departure procedures (DPs) and STARs is that the DPs start at the airport pavement and connect to the en route structure. STARs on the other hand, start at the en route structure but do not make it down to the pavement. This is primarily because STARs serve multiple runways and sometimes multiple airports. 

