B767-300 and 300 ER
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 15
Deviation - Altitude Overshoot; Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Human Factors; Procedure
The flight came over descending to FL240 flying the SMUKE1 arrival over WIDAM intersection.  Because we have been having an issue with the SMUKE and KOLTS arrivals I pointed out the B767 to ZKC K58.  Once the B767 came over I issued the descend via clearance landing northeast.  Shortly after issuing the clearance I noticed that the B767 was descending below FL240 prior to OLIPE which has a crossing of At Or Above FL240.  The B767 crossed OLIPE approximately FL230.  I notified the supervisor and then issued the brasher statement to the B767 crew.My understanding is that the pilots are being issued the crossing at ZID/ZKC boundary at FL240 and are overlooking the crossing at OLIPE after being issued the descend via.
We were level at FL350 with Kansas City Center. They cleared us to descend to FL290. In the descent to FL290 we were given a crossing clearance for point PAAAM (on the SMUKE1 arrival) at FL240. The point immediately following PAAAM on the arrival is OLIPE with a crossing altitude of at or above FL240. We deleted that constraint to avoid confusing the FMS with a lower altitude (hard FL240) at PAAAM 7 miles prior. All that was entered into the FMS and executed without incident. At FL240 we were transferred over to Indianapolis Center and were told to descend via the SMUKE1 arrival. We noted that the aircraft was already above the optimum descent profile (high on PATH) as we dialed in the bottom altitude of 5;000 feet at point IIUUU. The aircraft immediately began to descend out of FL240 before reaching point OLIPE. Past point LISLE we were handed off to Indy Approach and told to call Indy center QA when we landed. We retraced the arrival and realized that we had likely left FL240 before crossing OLIPE.When we're given an altitude constraint at a waypoint that is lower than the altitude constraint for a following point; the FMS gets confused. It cannot understand how to descend to a lower point that would place it well below its optimum path for a following point and flags the issue with an error message. To avoid 'confusing' the box we deleted OLIPE's altitude constraint. The FMS then drew an optimum path from PAAAM at FL240 to IIUUU at 5;000 and began descending before passing OLIPE; thus placing us below the at/above FL240 constraint.The Kansas City to Indianapolis ATC boundary occurs between PAAAM and OLIPE. Either have Kansas City restrict us to FL250 at PAAAM or clear us to OLIPE at FL240. Either action would retain the desired OLIPE crossing restriction without confusing the FMS.
A ZID Controller and the two B767 pilots involved describe a missed crossing restriction at OLIPE on the SMUKE1 RNAV to IND and the reasons for it.