Flight crew of heavy transport overshoots cruise altitude while flying in ZID airspace.

Attributes
ACN	342240
Time
Date	199607
Day	Wed
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : vhp
State Reference	IN
Altitude	msl bound lower : 31000 msl bound upper : 31000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zid tower : hnl
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	DC-8 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 90 flight time total : 4000 flight time type : 400
ASRS Report	342240
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : overshoot non adherence : clearance
Independent Detector	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:

Missed altitude level off because of cockpit distraction. We were having problems with getting our RNAV units to agree. We had been given a request to expedite a climb through FL310 and also given a clearance to level off at FL310. As a result of distrs we missed the level off by 400 ft. Captain, altitude alerter, first officer discovered and corrected within 1 min.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF HVT OVERSHOOTS CRUISE ALT WHILE FLYING IN ZID AIRSPACE.

Narrative: MISSED ALT LEVEL OFF BECAUSE OF COCKPIT DISTR. WE WERE HAVING PROBS WITH GETTING OUR RNAV UNITS TO AGREE. WE HAD BEEN GIVEN A REQUEST TO EXPEDITE A CLB THROUGH FL310 AND ALSO GIVEN A CLRNC TO LEVEL OFF AT FL310. AS A RESULT OF DISTRS WE MISSED THE LEVEL OFF BY 400 FT. CAPT, ALT ALERTER, FO DISCOVERED AND CORRECTED WITHIN 1 MIN.

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.