C414A pilot reported overshooting his cleared altitude due to passenger's distraction.

Narrative:

On climb out; had been cleared direct waiks intersection and climb to 10;000. During the climb; I had set the altitude in the reminder; was setting the radar to evaluate the storms; and was checking nexrad for avoidance. I had a less experienced passenger riding up front with plenty of questions. I got [a] call from the controller asking at what altitude I was going to level off. I checked the altimeter to advise I was leveling at 10;000 and saw I was 500 ft. Above and climbing. I told her that 10;000 would be my altitude and I was returning to it. I stopped the climb as soon as possible and started the descent back to 10;000. There was no conflict with any other traffic I am aware of. There was no calls for turns to me or any other aircraft. The altitude advisory unit in the aircraft is just that; a digital reminder with no alerting system. I was distracted by the passenger's questions and was encouraging him to consider lessons. Also being new in the company; I was trying to avoid the convective weather to give him a good experience. The radar in this aircraft has some issues with adjustment and setting it up was attention intensive.I was evaluating the lower clouds and preparing to ask for higher as I was between layers and was not closely monitoring my climb. I've flown enough to know that passengers in front can disrupt your flow and should have been more vigilant but let his enthusiasm distract me an a busy time.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C414A pilot reported overshooting his cleared altitude due to passenger's distraction.

Narrative: On climb out; had been cleared direct WAIKS Intersection and climb to 10;000. During the climb; I had set the altitude in the reminder; was setting the radar to evaluate the storms; and was checking NEXRAD for avoidance. I had a less experienced passenger riding up front with plenty of questions. I got [a] call from the Controller asking at what altitude I was going to level off. I checked the altimeter to advise I was leveling at 10;000 and saw I was 500 ft. above and climbing. I told her that 10;000 would be my altitude and I was returning to it. I stopped the climb ASAP and started the descent back to 10;000. There was no conflict with any other traffic I am aware of. There was no calls for turns to me or any other aircraft. The altitude advisory unit in the aircraft is just that; a digital reminder with no alerting system. I was distracted by the passenger's questions and was encouraging him to consider lessons. Also being new in the company; I was trying to avoid the convective weather to give him a good experience. The radar in this aircraft has some issues with adjustment and setting it up was attention intensive.I was evaluating the lower clouds and preparing to ask for higher as I was between layers and was not closely monitoring my climb. I've flown enough to know that passengers in front can disrupt your flow and should have been more vigilant but let his enthusiasm distract me an a busy time.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1554182
Time
Date	201806
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	PCT.TRACON
State Reference	VA
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Chancellor 414A / C414
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 68 Flight Crew Total 13000 Flight Crew Type 415
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence