Narrative:

I was serving as sic (pilot flying) in the left seat. Both pilots are well familiar with teb and the associated teb 5 departure procedure. During our taxi to assigned runway of 24; both myself and the PIC (serving as pilot not flying and operating the radios) reviewed the teterboro 5 procedure verbally and with reference to the departure procedure diagram. The aircraft's navigational radios were properly set to receive DME from teb VOR. The initial procedure was restated verbally by me prior to the application of takeoff thrust. It has been my experience through actual operations at this airport that new york TRACON typically issues control instructions to you almost immediately upon your check-in on their frequency. This is usually a radar vector and a climb to a higher altitude than would normally be flown if the pilot remained on the teb 5 departure. We departed from runway 24 and initially planned to level at the appropriate altitude of 1;500 ft MSL before commencing the right turn to a heading of 280. During this time; we were handed off to new york TRACON. The PIC checked in with same on the radio. During his transmission; he hesitated slightly while stating the altitude we were about to level at. As soon as he released the transmit button; we heard: '...turn right heading 300; climb and maintain six thousand.' both pilots interpreted this instruction to be for our aircraft as it was a logical instruction given our flight path. More importantly; in the considerable experience of both pilots; we find that controllers in busy areas such as new york; chicago; etc. Key their microphones immediately after a pilot finishes his transmission. If the pilot talks longer than the controller thought he was going to; or if the pilot delays in releasing the transmit button; the controller is frequently heard already in the midst of his transmission. This usually means the callsign is 'clipped' before the pilots can hear it (as it is the first item in the controller's transmission.) I continued the climb and began a turn to the heading stated in the instruction while the pilot not flying read back the instructions. The controller was heard issuing an instruction to another aircraft not on our frequency. He then stated: '(our callsign); turn left heading 270 and maintain 1;500. That previous instruction was for a heavy off of newark.' at this point our aircraft was already established northwest bound and passing through 2;000 ft MSL. I commenced an immediate left turn and descent back to 1;500 ft. Shortly thereafter the controller said something to the effect of 'you need to pay more attention next time' and issued a climb and turn to our aircraft. After a few more transmissions to other aircraft; the controller informed us there were no newark arrivals in the vicinity at the time of our climb and stated 'you don't have anything to worry about.' we were handed off to new york center without further comment and the remainder of the flight was completed uneventfully. We were apparently lulled into complacency by the fact that the controller's initial transmission seemed logical; and the timing was such that by all accounts it was an immediate reply to our check-in on the frequency. In the future I will endeavor to maintain the altitude(s) depicted on the departure procedure until I have received an instruction that includes my aircraft's complete callsign.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LJ35 flight crew accepted a clearance intended for another aircraft while flying the TEB 5 SID.

Narrative: I was serving as SIC (pilot flying) in the left seat. Both pilots are well familiar with TEB and the associated TEB 5 departure procedure. During our taxi to assigned runway of 24; both myself and the PIC (serving as pilot not flying and operating the radios) reviewed the Teterboro 5 procedure verbally and with reference to the departure procedure diagram. The aircraft's navigational radios were properly set to receive DME from TEB VOR. The initial procedure was restated verbally by me prior to the application of takeoff thrust. It has been my experience through actual operations at this airport that New York TRACON typically issues control instructions to you almost immediately upon your check-in on their frequency. This is usually a radar vector and a climb to a higher altitude than would normally be flown if the pilot remained on the TEB 5 departure. We departed from Runway 24 and initially planned to level at the appropriate altitude of 1;500 FT MSL before commencing the right turn to a heading of 280. During this time; we were handed off to New York TRACON. The PIC checked in with same on the radio. During his transmission; he hesitated slightly while stating the altitude we were about to level at. As soon as he released the transmit button; we heard: '...turn right heading 300; climb and maintain six thousand.' Both pilots interpreted this instruction to be for our aircraft as it was a logical instruction given our flight path. More importantly; in the considerable experience of both pilots; we find that controllers in busy areas such as New York; Chicago; etc. key their microphones IMMEDIATELY after a pilot finishes his transmission. If the pilot talks longer than the controller thought he was going to; or if the pilot delays in releasing the transmit button; the controller is frequently heard already in the midst of his transmission. This usually means the callsign is 'clipped' before the pilots can hear it (as it is the first item in the Controller's transmission.) I continued the climb and began a turn to the heading stated in the instruction while the pilot not flying read back the instructions. The Controller was heard issuing an instruction to another aircraft not on our frequency. He then stated: '(our callsign); turn left heading 270 and maintain 1;500. That previous instruction was for a heavy off of Newark.' At this point our aircraft was already established northwest bound and passing through 2;000 FT MSL. I commenced an immediate left turn and descent back to 1;500 FT. Shortly thereafter the Controller said something to the effect of 'you need to pay more attention next time' and issued a climb and turn to our aircraft. After a few more transmissions to other aircraft; the Controller informed us there were no Newark arrivals in the vicinity at the time of our climb and stated 'you don't have anything to worry about.' We were handed off to New York Center without further comment and the remainder of the flight was completed uneventfully. We were apparently lulled into complacency by the fact that the Controller's initial transmission seemed logical; and the timing was such that by all accounts it was an immediate reply to our check-in on the frequency. In the future I will endeavor to maintain the altitude(s) depicted on the departure procedure until I have received an instruction that includes my aircraft's complete callsign.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.