Narrative:

We were climbing to FL230. The altimeter departing was 29.11. There were multiple lines of thunderstorms in the valley and high winds on the east side of the mountains. We were delayed for maintenance before departure and had the passengers on board for an hour. Passengers were using the bathroom despite the turbulence. Both pilots were distracted and did not reset the altimeter to 29.92. We had 29.11 set in from our departure resulting in a large deviation. The controller made us aware and we fixed the problem. As pilot flying I was studying the efb; watching the multiple lines of weather moving across the valley; and looking at reports over the mountains. I wanted to get an inflight service in; but as we had the passengers on the aircraft for a one hour mechanical fix on the ground; I was more concerned because people were using the lavatory and I wanted to find smooth air. I got sucked into the efb and forgot to reset altimeter to 29.92. The first officer was having some problems with a frequency change. The reception was poor and we were given a wrong frequency. It took a couple minutes to resolve and get on the correct frequency. As a result of working this out; she too forgot to reset her altimeter. As we checked on to the new frequency; the controller asked what our altitude was. I immediately saw the problem; pushed the button; and the autopilot headed down to 230. Before I could get there the controller cleared us to FL250 and didn't say another word.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A DHC-8-400 (Q400) crew distracted by weather; turbulence; EFB usage and passenger safety; forgot to reset a low altimeter (29.11) while climbing to FL230 and were subsequently advised by ATC of an altitude deviation.

Narrative: We were climbing to FL230. The altimeter departing was 29.11. There were multiple lines of thunderstorms in the valley and high winds on the east side of the mountains. We were delayed for maintenance before departure and had the passengers on board for an hour. Passengers were using the bathroom despite the turbulence. Both Pilots were distracted and did not reset the altimeter to 29.92. We had 29.11 set in from our departure resulting in a large deviation. The Controller made us aware and we fixed the problem. As pilot flying I was studying the EFB; watching the multiple lines of weather moving across the valley; and looking at reports over the mountains. I wanted to get an inflight service in; but as we had the passengers on the aircraft for a one hour mechanical fix on the ground; I was more concerned because people were using the lavatory and I wanted to find smooth air. I got sucked into the EFB and forgot to reset altimeter to 29.92. The First Officer was having some problems with a frequency change. The reception was poor and we were given a wrong frequency. It took a couple minutes to resolve and get on the correct frequency. As a result of working this out; she too forgot to reset her altimeter. As we checked on to the new frequency; the Controller asked what our altitude was. I immediately saw the problem; pushed the button; and the autopilot headed down to 230. Before I could get there the Controller cleared us to FL250 and didn't say another word.

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.