Citation V/Ultra/Encore (C560)
Situational Awareness; Distraction
Deviation - Altitude Overshoot; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Human Factors; Procedure
We were descending from 16000 to 12000 with the autopilot on. I called 1000 to go at 13000 ft. Pilot Flying responded 13000 for 12000. About that time ATC called and asked if we had destination weather and what runway and approach we wanted. I responded and then opened my iPad to confirm the airport and approach. As I was looking at the IPad; ATC called and asked what altitude had we been cleared to. I responded 12000 and saw that we were descending through 10500. Pilot Flying (PF) then stopped the descent and started to correct back to 12000. ATC then instructed us to continue the descent to 9000. I asked PF how and why he had not leveled off at 12000. He told me that the autopilot had inadvertently disconnected without him knowing it; and that he had been looking at his iPad and not monitoring the airplane. I need to monitor the PF and airplane better during critical phases of flight. Just because he responded to the altitude callout does not mean that he or the autopilot is going to do it.
This was clearly a CRM failure. While it was a beautiful day with unlimited visibility; the Pilot Flying (PF) should never have looked down at his iPad to assist the PM with any other issue. The primary responsibility of the PF is to fly the aircraft safely with precision. In this case; both pilots had their heads down and neither pilot noticed the assigned altitude had not been captured. This is a basic failure of a structured CRM environment which we must adhere to in the interest of safety and professionalism. In this case both pilots were experienced captains with thousands of flight hours; however; professional CRM practice fell short on this occasion.
CE-560 flight crew reported overshooting assigned altitude on descent due to inadvertent autopilot disconnect and distraction with iPads.