Narrative:

First officer briefed departure but no mention was made of altitude cleared to. Normally out of this airport that would be 16000 ft. Because of the short leg to phoenix, I had to leave departure frequency to get ATIS, report times and so on. On initial call up to departure, I checked in at 5200 ft climbing to maintain 16000 ft. 16000 ft was set in the altitude window of the MCP, but we were only cleared to 14000 ft. The aircraft was on autoplt during the climb and leveled off at 14000 ft. 14000 ft had been set in the FMC as the cruise altitude. I was listening to the phx ATIS at the time and asked the first officer if he was going to continue the climb to 16000 ft. Although 14000 ft was on the takeoff data card in the ATC clearance section, we put 16000 ft in the FMC and continued the climb. I was holding the data card writing arrival information on the other side of the card when the first officer reached over, turned the card over, and realized that 14000 ft was our cleared altitude. The first officer disconnected the autoplt, reduced power, and leveled back off at 14000 ft. Maximum altitude reached was 14800 ft. There was no conflict or loss of separation with other traffic. A more complete pre takeoff briefing including cleared to altitude would have eliminated the problem.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FO OF A B737-300 OVERSHOT ASSIGNED ALT DURING DEP CLB DUE TO THE HABIT OF USUALLY BEING ASSIGNED A HIGHER ALT.

Narrative: FO BRIEFED DEP BUT NO MENTION WAS MADE OF ALT CLRED TO. NORMALLY OUT OF THIS ARPT THAT WOULD BE 16000 FT. BECAUSE OF THE SHORT LEG TO PHOENIX, I HAD TO LEAVE DEP FREQ TO GET ATIS, RPT TIMES AND SO ON. ON INITIAL CALL UP TO DEP, I CHKED IN AT 5200 FT CLBING TO MAINTAIN 16000 FT. 16000 FT WAS SET IN THE ALT WINDOW OF THE MCP, BUT WE WERE ONLY CLRED TO 14000 FT. THE ACFT WAS ON AUTOPLT DURING THE CLB AND LEVELED OFF AT 14000 FT. 14000 FT HAD BEEN SET IN THE FMC AS THE CRUISE ALT. I WAS LISTENING TO THE PHX ATIS AT THE TIME AND ASKED THE FO IF HE WAS GOING TO CONTINUE THE CLB TO 16000 FT. ALTHOUGH 14000 FT WAS ON THE TKOF DATA CARD IN THE ATC CLRNC SECTION, WE PUT 16000 FT IN THE FMC AND CONTINUED THE CLB. I WAS HOLDING THE DATA CARD WRITING ARR INFO ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CARD WHEN THE FO REACHED OVER, TURNED THE CARD OVER, AND REALIZED THAT 14000 FT WAS OUR CLRED ALT. THE FO DISCONNECTED THE AUTOPLT, REDUCED PWR, AND LEVELED BACK OFF AT 14000 FT. MAX ALT REACHED WAS 14800 FT. THERE WAS NO CONFLICT OR LOSS OF SEPARATION WITH OTHER TFC. A MORE COMPLETE PRE TKOF BRIEFING INCLUDING CLRED TO ALT WOULD HAVE ELIMINATED THE PROB.

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.