Narrative:

At the gate in ord the captain and 'a' flight attendant got into a very heated argument. As we pushed back from the gate and taxied out, he continued to talk about what had just happened. Because of this, as I was working on the weight and balance, he did not follow taxi instructions given and we were yelled at by the ground controller. After takeoff, we were supposed to climb to 5000 ft. However, at the gate during the time they were yelling at each other I had inadvertently put 4000 ft in the altitude select window. On the SID flown, it says to climb to be at or above 4000 ft by 8 DME, and climb to 5000 ft. On departure, I (PNF) checked in with departure control and told them we were climbing out of 2000 ft for 4000 ft. The controller then asked to repeat altitude we were climbing to, and I said 4000 ft. As we leveled off at 4000 ft, the controller told us to climb to 5000 ft. Obviously he (captain) was still upset over what had happened earlier at the gate and I was distraction also by the whole situation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-300 FLC FAILS TO FOLLOW THE ALT RESTRS FOR THEIR DEP SID WHILE THEY ARE UPSET OVER THE ARGUMENT THAT THE CAPT AND THE FLT ATTENDANT HAD PRIOR TO DEP ORD, IL.

Narrative: AT THE GATE IN ORD THE CAPT AND 'A' FLT ATTENDANT GOT INTO A VERY HEATED ARGUMENT. AS WE PUSHED BACK FROM THE GATE AND TAXIED OUT, HE CONTINUED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED. BECAUSE OF THIS, AS I WAS WORKING ON THE WT AND BAL, HE DID NOT FOLLOW TAXI INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN AND WE WERE YELLED AT BY THE GND CTLR. AFTER TKOF, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO CLB TO 5000 FT. HOWEVER, AT THE GATE DURING THE TIME THEY WERE YELLING AT EACH OTHER I HAD INADVERTENTLY PUT 4000 FT IN THE ALT SELECT WINDOW. ON THE SID FLOWN, IT SAYS TO CLB TO BE AT OR ABOVE 4000 FT BY 8 DME, AND CLB TO 5000 FT. ON DEP, I (PNF) CHKED IN WITH DEP CTL AND TOLD THEM WE WERE CLBING OUT OF 2000 FT FOR 4000 FT. THE CTLR THEN ASKED TO REPEAT ALT WE WERE CLBING TO, AND I SAID 4000 FT. AS WE LEVELED OFF AT 4000 FT, THE CTLR TOLD US TO CLB TO 5000 FT. OBVIOUSLY HE (CAPT) WAS STILL UPSET OVER WHAT HAD HAPPENED EARLIER AT THE GATE AND I WAS DISTR ALSO BY THE WHOLE SIT.

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.