Narrative:

Climbed through assigned altitude of 2000 ft on departure at msy. The captain (PF) had been distracted since not 'beating' other air carrier departing lit 2 legs previously. Departure at msy was delayed slightly due to a last min aircraft swap and, after start-up, an ELT that sounded like ours, but turned out to be in an adjacent aircraft. It was our last leg of the night and against a strong headwind. At 500 ft on climb out I called the altitude to prompt our turn to heading 250 degrees. The captain said 'no change' meaning that he believed that we had been assigned runway heading and had not set his heading bug. Through 1000 ft and through the altitude alerter chime I confirmed the turn with tower and was handed off to departure. I then called '1500 ft' to which the captain responded 'climb power, climb check' as per our cfm. While initiating the power change I realized that I had not preset the departure frequency when I changed from ground. I believe that I had been distracted looking for the hold short for the high speed to which we were cleared while the captain was taxiing lights out as a courtesy to landing traffic. At this point I said (aloud, but to myself) 'that's not departure' and began to retune the radio according to the clearance clipped to the panel. Unfortunately, my comment distracted the captain who said 'I didn't set that' and also began to read the clearance that he had copied. When I finished tuning the #1 communication on his side and looked at the altimeter for my call to departure we were passing rapidly through 2300 ft. I called 'altitude,' and the captain leveled off at 2500 ft and said 'I'm staying here' (WX was clear with no traffic). On contact with departure we were assigned 10000 ft. Contributing factors were: not repeating assigned heading and altitude on taking the runway, probably because we were hurrying to not be late, my saying aloud 'that's not departure' during a critical phase of flight when I could have just done my job and re-tuned without comment, on the other hand, I had a responsibility to inform the captain of why I was slow contacting departure, and most importantly, one of my major gripes on a daily basis, an unreasonably low initial altitude for turboprops out of msy. Our cfm stipulates full climb power at vy to 1500 ft. This often gives us a climb rate close to 3000 FPM, with very little time for anything out of the ordinary. I've been flying out of msy for about a year and have had trouble meeting this restr on several occasions due to a variety of circumstances, eg, aircraft out of trim, bleed air/environmental failures, failure to pressurize, gear not retracting, traffic, change in departure frequency, etc.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BE1900 FLC HAS HDG DEV AND ALTDEV ON TKOF AND INITIAL CLB.

Narrative: CLBED THROUGH ASSIGNED ALT OF 2000 FT ON DEP AT MSY. THE CAPT (PF) HAD BEEN DISTRACTED SINCE NOT 'BEATING' OTHER ACR DEPARTING LIT 2 LEGS PREVIOUSLY. DEP AT MSY WAS DELAYED SLIGHTLY DUE TO A LAST MIN ACFT SWAP AND, AFTER START-UP, AN ELT THAT SOUNDED LIKE OURS, BUT TURNED OUT TO BE IN AN ADJACENT ACFT. IT WAS OUR LAST LEG OF THE NIGHT AND AGAINST A STRONG HEADWIND. AT 500 FT ON CLBOUT I CALLED THE ALT TO PROMPT OUR TURN TO HDG 250 DEGS. THE CAPT SAID 'NO CHANGE' MEANING THAT HE BELIEVED THAT WE HAD BEEN ASSIGNED RWY HDG AND HAD NOT SET HIS HDG BUG. THROUGH 1000 FT AND THROUGH THE ALT ALERTER CHIME I CONFIRMED THE TURN WITH TWR AND WAS HANDED OFF TO DEP. I THEN CALLED '1500 FT' TO WHICH THE CAPT RESPONDED 'CLB PWR, CLB CHK' AS PER OUR CFM. WHILE INITIATING THE PWR CHANGE I REALIZED THAT I HAD NOT PRESET THE DEP FREQ WHEN I CHANGED FROM GND. I BELIEVE THAT I HAD BEEN DISTRACTED LOOKING FOR THE HOLD SHORT FOR THE HIGH SPD TO WHICH WE WERE CLRED WHILE THE CAPT WAS TAXIING LIGHTS OUT AS A COURTESY TO LNDG TFC. AT THIS POINT I SAID (ALOUD, BUT TO MYSELF) 'THAT'S NOT DEP' AND BEGAN TO RETUNE THE RADIO ACCORDING TO THE CLRNC CLIPPED TO THE PANEL. UNFORTUNATELY, MY COMMENT DISTRACTED THE CAPT WHO SAID 'I DIDN'T SET THAT' AND ALSO BEGAN TO READ THE CLRNC THAT HE HAD COPIED. WHEN I FINISHED TUNING THE #1 COM ON HIS SIDE AND LOOKED AT THE ALTIMETER FOR MY CALL TO DEP WE WERE PASSING RAPIDLY THROUGH 2300 FT. I CALLED 'ALT,' AND THE CAPT LEVELED OFF AT 2500 FT AND SAID 'I'M STAYING HERE' (WX WAS CLR WITH NO TFC). ON CONTACT WITH DEP WE WERE ASSIGNED 10000 FT. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: NOT REPEATING ASSIGNED HDG AND ALT ON TAKING THE RWY, PROBABLY BECAUSE WE WERE HURRYING TO NOT BE LATE, MY SAYING ALOUD 'THAT'S NOT DEP' DURING A CRITICAL PHASE OF FLT WHEN I COULD HAVE JUST DONE MY JOB AND RE-TUNED WITHOUT COMMENT, ON THE OTHER HAND, I HAD A RESPONSIBILITY TO INFORM THE CAPT OF WHY I WAS SLOW CONTACTING DEP, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, ONE OF MY MAJOR GRIPES ON A DAILY BASIS, AN UNREASONABLY LOW INITIAL ALT FOR TURBOPROPS OUT OF MSY. OUR CFM STIPULATES FULL CLB PWR AT VY TO 1500 FT. THIS OFTEN GIVES US A CLB RATE CLOSE TO 3000 FPM, WITH VERY LITTLE TIME FOR ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY. I'VE BEEN FLYING OUT OF MSY FOR ABOUT A YEAR AND HAVE HAD TROUBLE MEETING THIS RESTR ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS DUE TO A VARIETY OF CIRCUMSTANCES, EG, ACFT OUT OF TRIM, BLEED AIR/ENVIRONMENTAL FAILURES, FAILURE TO PRESSURIZE, GEAR NOT RETRACTING, TFC, CHANGE IN DEP FREQ, ETC.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.