Narrative:

I was cleared the STYCK3.doley SID with instructions to climb via the SID except maintain 5000 ft. I was unfamiliar with the airport; the SID; and anticipating some complex taxi instructions. I looked up the SID; read the chart and the instructions. I was anticipating some complex steps up as would be found at slc or oak and other airports I am familiar with. The simplicity of the SID surprised me; simply climb up to 16;000 ft. Relieved; I put 16;000 ft in the altitude preset and called up ground for my taxi instructions.upon climbing; I got a RA in IMC as I was approaching 5000 ft MSL; and as I was calling up departure. I signed on just after passing 5000 ft and told the controller I was getting a traffic alert in IMC. He immediately told me to return to 5000 ft. As he told me that; I got a RA indicating the same thing. I pushed the nose down; returned to 5000 ft and realized immediately that I had not put 5000 ft in the preset. The highest altitude I saw on the altimeter was about 5600 ft. When I spoke with TRACON; they said that this is always a busy airspace and that this is a hot spot where the traffic above could be at 6000 ft. He said that if I am ever assigned an altitude above 5000 ft in that situation; that I should question it as the controller probably made a mistake. Contributing to this situation was the mental workload associated with being in a class B airport that I have not visited in years; it being rush hour and my reading an unusual SID chart that I forgot to put in the altitude exception clearance into the autopilot.I have since added a check in my personal checklist to double-check the altitude clearance and preset before taxi to prevent this in the future.I would love to see that chart changed so that it reads climb to 5000 ft instead of 16;000 ft. It sounds like this is a common occurrence at khou. Perhaps a simple change in the chart so that the chart reflects the realities of operations in that airspace would help by clarifying to pilots what to expect.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CE525 Captain reported being assigned the STYCK2 departure departing IAH including a 5000 foot altitude limit which is not placed in the MCP altitude window. A TCAS alert was generated passing 5;000 feet and ATC was advised; sending the reporter back to 5;000 feet.

Narrative: I was cleared the STYCK3.DOLEY SID with instructions to climb via the SID except maintain 5000 ft. I was unfamiliar with the airport; the SID; and anticipating some complex taxi instructions. I looked up the SID; read the chart and the instructions. I was anticipating some complex steps up as would be found at SLC or OAK and other airports I am familiar with. The simplicity of the SID surprised me; simply climb up to 16;000 ft. Relieved; I put 16;000 ft in the altitude preset and called up Ground for my taxi instructions.Upon climbing; I got a RA in IMC as I was approaching 5000 ft MSL; and as I was calling up departure. I signed on just after passing 5000 ft and told the controller I was getting a traffic alert in IMC. He immediately told me to return to 5000 ft. As he told me that; I got a RA indicating the same thing. I pushed the nose down; returned to 5000 ft and realized immediately that I had not put 5000 ft in the preset. The highest altitude I saw on the altimeter was about 5600 ft. When I spoke with TRACON; they said that this is always a busy airspace and that this is a hot spot where the traffic above could be at 6000 ft. He said that if I am ever assigned an altitude above 5000 ft in that situation; that I should question it as the controller probably made a mistake. Contributing to this situation was the mental workload associated with being in a class B airport that I have not visited in years; it being rush hour and my reading an unusual SID chart that I forgot to put in the altitude exception clearance into the autopilot.I have since added a check in my personal checklist to double-check the altitude clearance and preset before taxi to prevent this in the future.I would love to see that chart changed so that it reads climb to 5000 ft instead of 16;000 ft. It sounds like this is a common occurrence at KHOU. Perhaps a simple change in the chart so that the chart reflects the realities of operations in that airspace would help by clarifying to pilots what to expect.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.