A-B737 flight crew is distracted by headset equipment problem and exceeded assigned altitude.

Attributes
ACN	518830
Time
Date	200107
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zny.artcc
State Reference	NY
Altitude	msl bound lower : 17000 msl bound upper : 17800
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	enroute airway : j64.airway
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 10000 flight time type : 907
ASRS Report	518830
Events
Anomaly	altitude deviation : overshoot non adherence : clearance
Resolutory Action	controller : issued advisory flight crew : returned to assigned altitude
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance ATC Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

We were on the ptw VOR 320 degrees radial to intercept J64 climbing to 17000 ft. My headset audio was intermittent (first officer said his was fine). While I was troubleshooting that I asked my first officer to dial in the ravine VOR radial for J64. I looked and saw that he had put in the outbound versus the inbound radial and I asked him to change it. During these 2 events which were going on simultaneously, I overshot our assigned altitude (17000 ft) by about 800 ft. Both of us and ZNY noticed it at about the same time. When ZNY queried us as to our altitude, we advised him that we were correcting back to 17000 ft. This was also my first officer's first time into and out of phl, and he was somewhat unfamiliar with the airway structure and mistakenly had put in the wrong radial. Also, after the overshoot, we both commented that neither of us had heard the altitude warning horn sound (it had, but was very weak). I think mainly the 2 distrs of headset/radial error caused our inatt to the proper leveloff at 17000 ft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A-B737 FLT CREW IS DISTRACTED BY HEADSET EQUIP PROB AND EXCEEDED ASSIGNED ALT.

Narrative: WE WERE ON THE PTW VOR 320 DEGS RADIAL TO INTERCEPT J64 CLBING TO 17000 FT. MY HEADSET AUDIO WAS INTERMITTENT (FO SAID HIS WAS FINE). WHILE I WAS TROUBLESHOOTING THAT I ASKED MY FO TO DIAL IN THE RAVINE VOR RADIAL FOR J64. I LOOKED AND SAW THAT HE HAD PUT IN THE OUTBOUND VERSUS THE INBOUND RADIAL AND I ASKED HIM TO CHANGE IT. DURING THESE 2 EVENTS WHICH WERE GOING ON SIMULTANEOUSLY, I OVERSHOT OUR ASSIGNED ALT (17000 FT) BY ABOUT 800 FT. BOTH OF US AND ZNY NOTICED IT AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME. WHEN ZNY QUERIED US AS TO OUR ALT, WE ADVISED HIM THAT WE WERE CORRECTING BACK TO 17000 FT. THIS WAS ALSO MY FO'S FIRST TIME INTO AND OUT OF PHL, AND HE WAS SOMEWHAT UNFAMILIAR WITH THE AIRWAY STRUCTURE AND MISTAKENLY HAD PUT IN THE WRONG RADIAL. ALSO, AFTER THE OVERSHOOT, WE BOTH COMMENTED THAT NEITHER OF US HAD HEARD THE ALT WARNING HORN SOUND (IT HAD, BUT WAS VERY WEAK). I THINK MAINLY THE 2 DISTRS OF HEADSET/RADIAL ERROR CAUSED OUR INATT TO THE PROPER LEVELOFF AT 17000 FT.

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.