Narrative:

I was captain of a cpr light transport jet departing from hou flying an assigned heading and climbing from 5000 ft to 15000 ft. Going through 10000 ft, I lowered the pitch to accelerate to 290 KTS, then engaged altitude select. My copilot was handling communications and verifying our route on a chart. About this time, one of the passenger tapped me on the shoulder. As I turned around, I may have accidentally bumped something on the center console that disconnected the altitude select mode. While I was attempting to handle the passenger problem, my copilot was taking a handoff from houston approach to center. As I turned back, I saw we were climbing through 15800 ft at about 3000 FPM. I immediately attempted to stop the climb to begin a descent, but the aircraft eventually reached 16400 ft before the climb trend was turned around. We were descending through 16000 ft when my copilot checked in with ZHU. Center asked what altitude we were assigned, and we told them 15000 ft, and that we were descending back to that altitude. They then cleared us immediately to 'FL230.' center did not indicate to us that any other aircraft were involved in our airspace during the time we were not at our assigned altitude.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CAPT OF A CPR LTT JET INADVERTENTLY OVERSHOT ASSIGNED INTERMEDIATE CLB ALT DUE THE CAPT ACCIDENTALLY 'BUMPING' OFF THE FLT DIRECTOR.

Narrative: I WAS CAPT OF A CPR LTT JET DEPARTING FROM HOU FLYING AN ASSIGNED HDG AND CLBING FROM 5000 FT TO 15000 FT. GOING THROUGH 10000 FT, I LOWERED THE PITCH TO ACCELERATE TO 290 KTS, THEN ENGAGED ALT SELECT. MY COPLT WAS HANDLING COMS AND VERIFYING OUR RTE ON A CHART. ABOUT THIS TIME, ONE OF THE PAX TAPPED ME ON THE SHOULDER. AS I TURNED AROUND, I MAY HAVE ACCIDENTALLY BUMPED SOMETHING ON THE CTR CONSOLE THAT DISCONNECTED THE ALT SELECT MODE. WHILE I WAS ATTEMPTING TO HANDLE THE PAX PROB, MY COPLT WAS TAKING A HDOF FROM HOUSTON APCH TO CTR. AS I TURNED BACK, I SAW WE WERE CLBING THROUGH 15800 FT AT ABOUT 3000 FPM. I IMMEDIATELY ATTEMPTED TO STOP THE CLB TO BEGIN A DSCNT, BUT THE ACFT EVENTUALLY REACHED 16400 FT BEFORE THE CLB TREND WAS TURNED AROUND. WE WERE DSNDING THROUGH 16000 FT WHEN MY COPLT CHKED IN WITH ZHU. CTR ASKED WHAT ALT WE WERE ASSIGNED, AND WE TOLD THEM 15000 FT, AND THAT WE WERE DSNDING BACK TO THAT ALT. THEY THEN CLRED US IMMEDIATELY TO 'FL230.' CTR DID NOT INDICATE TO US THAT ANY OTHER ACFT WERE INVOLVED IN OUR AIRSPACE DURING THE TIME WE WERE NOT AT OUR ASSIGNED ALT.

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.