EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Total 2200
Distraction; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness; Workload
Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude; Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Executed Go Around / Missed Approach; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Human Factors
While coming into ZZZ after holding for weather; an aircraft before us was able to get into the field at minimums. We were cleared to cross the initial app had fix at or above 3;000 ft. After crossing; I; the First Officer; had set the new altitude for 2;100 ft. which was the lowest altitude on that segment of the approach. After leveling off I had set the MDA of 800 ft. Prior to the FAF the Captain had suggested to switch to a flaps 45 landing instead of 22 to get a lower deck angle. I agreed so the Captain was heads down for a few moments while getting the new speeds. We were told to contact tower and after check-in they said to check our altitude. I had noticed we were lower than the segments assigned altitude and promptly corrected back up to the correct altitude. This was correct before the FAF so we continued the approach. This was followed by a missed approach.Lack of crosschecking and part of the crew was heads down during a critical phase of flight. [Suggest] Heads up cross check on final approach segment. Also not changing the configuration of the airplane at such late notice on arrival/ approach.
EMB-145 First Officer reported descending below a minimum approach altitude while the Captain was making a late change to aircraft configuration. The crew climbed back to the correct altitude and executed a missed approach.