MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Human-Machine Interface; Workload; Time Pressure; Distraction
Other Unwanted Situation
Aircraft; Chart Or Publication; Human Factors; Procedure
We flew the new FRDMM ONE RNAV arrival into DCA. It has four speed changes and 13 altitude restrictions; many of which are between an upper altitude and a lower altitude. Some of the points are there to make it a sentence; which further clutters up the already busy arrival plate. Some of the numerous restrictions are written above the line and some are below the line. Because the of the many altitude and speed restrictions; keeping track of progress with a finger could cause you to miss a finger covered restriction below the line. Compliance with the overly complex arrival in a non-VNAV equipped MD80; with a tail wind is a real struggle. I'm sure it make things easier for ATC; but it brings both pilots' scan inside the cockpit. Arrivals like this promote automation dependency in complex airplanes and put an enormous burden on pilots of less complex aircraft.Simplify this arrival. What are the actual requirements? Don't try to fly my airplane for me. It's very hard for me to believe that ATC needs us between 13;000 and 12;000 at any point; for instance. I'll bet what is normally needed is us to be in the descent toward 6000 FT; but at or above 12;000 at that point. If I have the proper equipment on board; it would be easy to mis-type a between type of clearance. Do you really need us to slow to 270 at FORGT or are you just trying to ensure that we are at 250 at ALWYZ? When you dictate that we slow down; you are making it harder for us to descend. Pilots also need to be looking out for traffic and not entirely being dependent on ATC.
An MD-80 Captain expressed his concerns regarding the complex descent profile on the FRDMM RNAV STAR into DCA; expressly addressing the difficulties of complying with the multiple and complex altitude and speed restrictions in an RNAV eligible aircraft which is not equipped with VNAV guidance.