Narrative:

During the departure brief; pilot flying briefed the 250 KIAS restriction at zelan on the VARNM2 departure and input 250/2000A at zelan in FMS. [We] departed RWY6L on the VARNM2 RNAV departure. Normal takeoff was accomplished immediately behind an md-11 resulting in some significant wake turbulence which the pilot flying handled while hand flying. During initial climb; the md-11 was cleared to climb and maintain 14;000 feet. As [we] passed approximately 8;800 feet; the pilot flying queried the pilot monitoring about maintaining 250 KIAS until zelan as published on the departure since the aircraft was rapidly approaching 10;000 feet well before zelan. While confirming the restriction was in the FMC as programmed by the flight crew during ground ops; the pilot monitoring missed calling 9;000 feet for 10;000 feet as the aircraft approached the SID top altitude of 10;000 feet. Pilot monitoring stated the 250 KIAS restriction was in FMS and the airplane will honor it. While pilot monitoring was heads down verifying FMS; we got an altitude alert passing 10;000 feet. Pilot monitoring commanded an immediate level off. Noticing the FD commanding reduced pitch as the aircraft approached and flew through 10;000 feet; but still thinking 14;000 feet; the pilot flying crosschecked the MCP altitude and upon seeing 10;000 feet; realized he had overflown the assigned level off altitude. The pilot flying immediately pushed over to correct back toward 10;000 feet. During the corrective maneuver; the aircraft achieved a maximum deviation of approximately +450 feet. Seconds later; as the aircraft descended through approximately 10;200 feet for 10;000 feet; atlanta departure queried [us] on assigned level off altitude; to which the pilot monitoring responded 'leveling at 10000''.first and foremost; while hand flying the aircraft; the pilot flying did not follow the FD which was commanding a level off at 10;000 feet. This probably occurred in part due to expectation bias resulting from hearing the md-11 immediately preceding [us] get cleared to 14 ;000 feet; and then expecting the same. Pilot monitoring got distracted while verifying the FMS and failed to monitor flight path. Pilot flying failed to fly the jet and allowed himself to be distracted by pilot monitoring duties. Another contributing factor was the missed 9;000 feet for 10;000 feet call approaching level off; likely missed due to task saturation caused by the pilot monitoring addressing the pilot flying's question about the 250 KIAS speed restriction as the aircraft passed 8;000 feet.first; since the flight crew properly programmed the FMC to comply with the published speed restriction of 250 KIAS at zelan; the pilot flying simply needed to trust the programming and VNAV mode while flying in accordance with the FD. When the pilot flying queried pilot monitoring about the speed restriction at zelan; pilot monitoring should have just stated 9;000 feet for 10;000 feet. Second; flight crews need to guard against expectation bias. In this situation; even though the md-11 immediately preceding [us] was cleared to 14;000 feet; that never meant that [we] would get the same clearance and the pilot flying should have guarded against thinking that. Third; the pilot monitoring should have been more diligent about making the 1;000 feet prior call; approaching 1;000 feet prior to level off; the priority must be focusing the flight crew toward the immediate task of adjusting the aircraft's flight path vector. Finally; the disciplined use of autopilot in highly congested airspace or on departures and arrivals with many speed and/or altitude restrictions can greatly assist the flight crew in compliance with the published procedure.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767-300F flight crew reported overshooting cleared altitude departing ATL; due in part to distraction from a wake turbulence encounter in trail of an MD-11.

Narrative: During the departure brief; Pilot Flying briefed the 250 KIAS restriction at ZELAN on the VARNM2 departure and input 250/2000A at ZELAN in FMS. [We] departed RWY6L on the VARNM2 RNAV departure. Normal takeoff was accomplished immediately behind an MD-11 resulting in some significant wake turbulence which the Pilot Flying handled while hand flying. During initial climb; the MD-11 was cleared to climb and maintain 14;000 feet. As [we] passed approximately 8;800 feet; the Pilot Flying queried the Pilot Monitoring about maintaining 250 KIAS until ZELAN as published on the departure since the aircraft was rapidly approaching 10;000 feet well before ZELAN. While confirming the restriction was in the FMC as programmed by the flight crew during ground ops; the Pilot Monitoring missed calling 9;000 feet for 10;000 feet as the aircraft approached the SID top altitude of 10;000 feet. Pilot Monitoring stated the 250 KIAS restriction was in FMS and the airplane will honor it. While Pilot Monitoring was heads down verifying FMS; we got an altitude alert passing 10;000 feet. Pilot Monitoring commanded an immediate level off. Noticing the FD commanding reduced pitch as the aircraft approached and flew through 10;000 feet; but still thinking 14;000 feet; the Pilot Flying crosschecked the MCP ALT and upon seeing 10;000 feet; realized he had overflown the assigned level off altitude. The Pilot Flying immediately pushed over to correct back toward 10;000 feet. During the corrective maneuver; the aircraft achieved a maximum deviation of approximately +450 feet. Seconds later; as the aircraft descended through approximately 10;200 feet for 10;000 feet; Atlanta Departure queried [us] on assigned level off altitude; to which the Pilot Monitoring responded 'leveling at 10000''.First and foremost; while hand flying the aircraft; the Pilot Flying did not follow the FD which was commanding a level off at 10;000 feet. This probably occurred in part due to expectation bias resulting from hearing the MD-11 immediately preceding [us] get cleared to 14 ;000 feet; and then expecting the same. Pilot Monitoring got distracted while verifying the FMS and failed to monitor flight path. Pilot Flying failed to fly the jet and allowed himself to be distracted by Pilot Monitoring duties. Another contributing factor was the missed 9;000 feet for 10;000 feet call approaching level off; likely missed due to task saturation caused by the Pilot Monitoring addressing the Pilot Flying's question about the 250 KIAS speed restriction as the aircraft passed 8;000 feet.First; since the flight crew properly programmed the FMC to comply with the published speed restriction of 250 KIAS at ZELAN; the Pilot Flying simply needed to trust the programming and VNAV mode while flying IAW the FD. When the Pilot Flying queried Pilot Monitoring about the speed restriction at ZELAN; Pilot Monitoring should have just stated 9;000 feet for 10;000 feet. Second; flight crews need to guard against expectation bias. In this situation; even though the MD-11 immediately preceding [us] was cleared to 14;000 feet; that never meant that [we] would get the same clearance and the Pilot Flying should have guarded against thinking that. Third; the Pilot Monitoring should have been more diligent about making the 1;000 feet prior call; approaching 1;000 feet prior to level off; the priority must be focusing the flight crew toward the immediate task of adjusting the aircraft's flight path vector. Finally; the disciplined use of autopilot in highly congested airspace or on departures and arrivals with many speed and/or altitude restrictions can greatly assist the flight crew in compliance with the published procedure.

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.