Altitude excursion on SID climb. Aircraft equipment problem.

Attributes
ACN	298607
Time
Date	199503
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	0001 To 0600
Place
Locale Reference	airport : ewr
State Reference	NJ
Altitude	msl bound lower : 2500 msl bound upper : 2800
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : n90
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	climbout : initial
Route In Use	departure other departure sid : sid
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : flight engineer pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
ASRS Report	298607
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe altitude deviation : overshoot non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : unspecified other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : returned to intended course or assigned course
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

SID (ewr-4) required 2500 ft 060 degree heading after takeoff. Extremely light aircraft with excessive climb rate, autoplt incapable of capturing altitude. Manually flown back to 2500 ft within 10 seconds. (Maximum altitude 2700-2800 ft). Vertical speed wheel found to stick in 1 position on next 2 legs of flight as well as autoplt failing to function correctly when button pushed. Mostly occurred on first officer side. Vertical speed wheel on autoplt or manual flight was hard to move from 1 setting to another. Aircraft found to go through all altitudes selected by 75-150 ft in even the shallowest of angles. Aircraft written up for maintenance repair. Incident occurred at a time of irregular sleep pattern, heavy fatigue and second leg of a long, early morning duty period. Fortunately there was excellent WX and minimal air traffic.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ALT EXCURSION ON SID CLB. ACFT EQUIP PROB.

Narrative: SID (EWR-4) REQUIRED 2500 FT 060 DEG HDG AFTER TKOF. EXTREMELY LIGHT ACFT WITH EXCESSIVE CLB RATE, AUTOPLT INCAPABLE OF CAPTURING ALT. MANUALLY FLOWN BACK TO 2500 FT WITHIN 10 SECONDS. (MAX ALT 2700-2800 FT). VERT SPD WHEEL FOUND TO STICK IN 1 POS ON NEXT 2 LEGS OF FLT AS WELL AS AUTOPLT FAILING TO FUNCTION CORRECTLY WHEN BUTTON PUSHED. MOSTLY OCCURRED ON FO SIDE. VERT SPD WHEEL ON AUTOPLT OR MANUAL FLT WAS HARD TO MOVE FROM 1 SETTING TO ANOTHER. ACFT FOUND TO GO THROUGH ALL ALTS SELECTED BY 75-150 FT IN EVEN THE SHALLOWEST OF ANGLES. ACFT WRITTEN UP FOR MAINT REPAIR. INCIDENT OCCURRED AT A TIME OF IRREGULAR SLEEP PATTERN, HEAVY FATIGUE AND SECOND LEG OF A LONG, EARLY MORNING DUTY PERIOD. FORTUNATELY THERE WAS EXCELLENT WX AND MINIMAL AIR TFC.

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.