MD-83
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Human Factors; Aircraft; Procedure; Chart Or Publication
Descending via the TRUPS RNAV Arrival I missed the crossing restriction at SUPRT. According to the GPS we were going to make it just fine; but then the GPS seemed to re-compute the distance to the point and suddenly we were high by about 300 FT. We had a good 30 KT+ tailwind which didn't help things. My opinion is this arrival is not designed well. There are way too many altitude crossings and we spent way too long with our heads down in the cockpit trying to make sure we met all the restrictions. I don't think this arrival will be feasible in the winter with a much stronger tailwind. We had a hard enough time with one in the 30s. The GPS should also be programmed to put us at the bottom of each [crossing altitude window] instead of the top; which is what it was doing with us.
An MD-80 flight crew failed to comply with the altitude restriction at SUPRT waypoint on the TRUPS RNAV STAR to DCA. The reporter cited excessive complexity of the arrival as the primary causative factor.