Narrative:

Departure control cleared us to level 16000 ft. As captain, I was hand-flying aircraft. My leveloff at 16000 ft was sloppy and aircraft exceeded 16300 ft for 2-5 seconds before returning to 16000 ft. I had allowed INS check for overwater portion of flight to distract me from my primary duties of flying the airplane. First officer was doing the check. Use of autoplt would have prevented this as well. No other aircraft were in the air near us which was confirmed by TCASII. ATC made no comment. The addition of aural altitude alert on newer generation aircraft is a positive step. My aircraft had only a small amber light. In the future I will leave all extra monitoring duties until the autoplt is engaged.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DC10 CAPT HAD AN ALT OVERSHOOT.

Narrative: DEP CTL CLRED US TO LEVEL 16000 FT. AS CAPT, I WAS HAND-FLYING ACFT. MY LEVELOFF AT 16000 FT WAS SLOPPY AND ACFT EXCEEDED 16300 FT FOR 2-5 SECONDS BEFORE RETURNING TO 16000 FT. I HAD ALLOWED INS CHK FOR OVERWATER PORTION OF FLT TO DISTRACT ME FROM MY PRIMARY DUTIES OF FLYING THE AIRPLANE. FO WAS DOING THE CHK. USE OF AUTOPLT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS AS WELL. NO OTHER ACFT WERE IN THE AIR NEAR US WHICH WAS CONFIRMED BY TCASII. ATC MADE NO COMMENT. THE ADDITION OF AURAL ALT ALERT ON NEWER GENERATION ACFT IS A POSITIVE STEP. MY ACFT HAD ONLY A SMALL AMBER LIGHT. IN THE FUTURE I WILL LEAVE ALL EXTRA MONITORING DUTIES UNTIL THE AUTOPLT IS ENGAGED.

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.