Narrative:

On departure from a middle eastern airport we leveled at 13;000 ft MSL. That was the transition altitude for the area that day. We got clearance to climb to 15;000 ft MSL. The autopilot was engaged and started a climb. Upon leveling; ATC questioned are altitude and asked if we had 1013 MB set in our altitude window. I was the flying pilot and disconnected the autopilot and returned to 15;000 ft MSL. The standard altimeter setting was never set to 1013 MB. Both the captain and I had forgotten to do that. There were never any TCAS alerts or appeared to be another aircraft in our vicinity. The rest of the flight continued to destination without incident. The factors leading up to this incident could have been fatigue. Although the captain and I felt we were able to operate this flight safely; our schedule leading up to this was causing fatigue issues that were unaware to both of us. This was the next to the last day of a 14 day trip around the world. Our circadian rhythm is routinely disrupted on these long trips around the world. More rest is needed on the layovers to properly get the crew ready for the task at hand. Just because it is legal in the eyes of the FAA and the company; doesn't mean its safe! I feel the system we operate in is a very good system; but some things need to change for the better. Our international schedules are very demanding on the mind and the body. I would like to see more stringent rest rules that correct circadian rhythm disruptions. Until then we as pilots will continue to be professionals and operate our aircraft in the safest way possible!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-300 crew failed to set the current altimeter when passing the Transition Altitude for that day and leveled off high. ATC queried their altitude and so they returned to the assigned altitude. The crew was on day thirteen of a fourteen day trip and believe fatigue was an issue.

Narrative: On departure from a Middle Eastern airport we leveled at 13;000 FT MSL. That was the transition altitude for the area that day. We got clearance to climb to 15;000 FT MSL. The autopilot was engaged and started a climb. Upon leveling; ATC questioned are altitude and asked if we had 1013 MB set in our altitude window. I was the flying pilot and disconnected the autopilot and returned to 15;000 FT MSL. The standard altimeter setting was never set to 1013 MB. Both the Captain and I had forgotten to do that. There were never any TCAS alerts or appeared to be another aircraft in our vicinity. The rest of the flight continued to destination without incident. The factors leading up to this incident could have been fatigue. Although the Captain and I felt we were able to operate this flight safely; our schedule leading up to this was causing fatigue issues that were unaware to both of us. This was the next to the last day of a 14 day trip around the world. Our circadian rhythm is routinely disrupted on these long trips around the world. More rest is needed on the layovers to properly get the crew ready for the task at hand. Just because it is legal in the eyes of the FAA and the company; doesn't mean its safe! I feel the system we operate in is a very good system; but some things need to change for the better. Our international schedules are very demanding on the mind and the body. I would like to see more stringent rest rules that correct circadian rhythm disruptions. Until then we as pilots will continue to be professionals and operate our aircraft in the safest way possible!

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.