Originally Posted by
sonicbum
This is a typical case study of QNH blunder error where an SOP such as pre-setting the METAR/ATIS QNH prior to TOD could have prevented the incident. Many operators use this procedure as a safety net and it does work well indeed to trap errors both from the crew side and ATC. I believe that after this event more and more operators will include it in their procedures.
This procedure was used by my outfit when we operated Airbus and worked well. However one pitfall ( and this happened on a flight ) is the setting of QNH and forgetting to switch back to STD.
This crew ( PF ) set the QNH but forgot to switch back to STD and was cleared descent to a Flight Level. A Level bust occurred using QNH instead of STD.