Narrative:

Departing 15R in iah on the indie 4. We were climbing via the SID on the chart to 16;000 ft. Passing through 4;000 ft the controller gave us a level off at 5;000 feet. We complied and were then told to check our pre departure clearance. It had climb via SID except maintain 4;000 ft. We were then given 16;000 feet and continued flight uneventfully. Upon arrival we contact the TRACON as requested by departure control in iah.preparing the aircraft for departure; we requested the pre departure clearance; loaded in the flight plan and cross checked the route with the clearance. I did notice a rather lengthy pre departure clearance that contained a lot of wording for the ramp procedures and did not see the 'climb via SID except maintain 4;000 ft.' at the gate; we briefed the SID on the chart and completed our duties. We taxied out and took off. The events that occurred were noted in the above paragraph.the pre departure clearance should contain pertinent information in a decluttered fashion as to the flight plan; transponder code; etc. This was a contributing factor as the climb via instruction was obviously mistakenly overlooked. Also; being given a phone number to call at 5;000 in a sterile environment coupled with a 2+ hour flight is very distracting; unsettling; and unsafe. A radio transmission once we were on the ground would have been much more desirable.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew departing IAH on the INDIE4 departure was advised by ATC that they exceeded their PDC cleared altitude of 4;000 feet. The crew had overlooked that portion of the PDC and was climbing to the INDIE4 top altitude of 16;000 feet.

Narrative: Departing 15R in IAH on the Indie 4. We were climbing via the SID on the chart to 16;000 ft. Passing through 4;000 ft the controller gave us a level off at 5;000 feet. We complied and were then told to check our PDC. It had climb via SID except maintain 4;000 ft. We were then given 16;000 feet and continued flight uneventfully. Upon arrival we contact the TRACON as requested by departure control in IAH.Preparing the aircraft for departure; we requested the PDC; loaded in the flight plan and cross checked the route with the clearance. I did notice a rather lengthy PDC that contained a lot of wording for the ramp procedures and did not see the 'Climb via SID except maintain 4;000 ft.' At the gate; we briefed the SID on the chart and completed our duties. We taxied out and took off. The events that occurred were noted in the above paragraph.The PDC should contain pertinent information in a decluttered fashion as to the flight plan; transponder code; etc. This was a contributing factor as the Climb Via instruction was obviously mistakenly overlooked. Also; being given a phone number to call at 5;000 in a sterile environment coupled with a 2+ hour flight is very distracting; unsettling; and unsafe. A radio transmission once we were on the ground would have been much more desirable.

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.