Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness
Deviation - Speed All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter; Inflight Event / Encounter Unstabilized Approach
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Human Factors; Environment - Non Weather Related; Procedure
Was on approach to IND on 23L following a heavy. Winds were slightly gusty. Was fully configured above 1500 ft AGL. ATC cleared us to 3000 ft which brought me below the glideslope path from an intermediate fix to final approach fix. Bugged approach speed. Saw speed decreasing slightly below Vref but still within the bug. As I was correcting airspeed dropped approximately 10 kts and activated stick shaker. Disengaged the Autopilot and added thrust to return to Vref. Captain and I still felt stable as this occurred prior to the final approach fix in VMC conditions so we continued with the landing. Poor judgement when following a heavy. Should have bug Vref + 5 as well as stayed above glide slope to avoid wake as much as possible. Always bug Vref +5 when following a heavy.
CRJ-200 First Officer on approach to IND in trail of a heavy reported speed dropped 10 kts which triggered the stick shaker in a possible wake vortex encounter.