Narrative:

My highly experienced first officer was hand flying, autoplt and autothrottles off. Climb was being conducted at a high rate/slower airspeed than normal in an effort to climb above continuous moderate turbulence. ATC directed a leveloff at 13000 ft MSL. My first officer leveled at 13000 ft and began to accelerate to our turbulence penetration speed of 270 KTS. At this time, the EICAS sounded a momentary, false 3 bong, red, emergency alert. This immediately got both of our attns. It only took a second or 2 for me to realized the alert was false, but that was enough for us to climb to 13300 ft. I called the altitude to my first officer and he immediately corrected. We topped out at about 13375 ft. Fortunately there were no traffic conflicts. Moderate turbulence, aircraft performance (we had a climb rate exceeding 6000 FPM to this point), non use of automation, and the human factors involved when a PIC has much more experience in type, but fewer yrs total experience than the sic, played a part in this incident. I became complacent and did not recommend a moderation of the climb rate as we neared leveloff or the use of the autothrottles. As a result, my first officer needed to aggressively trim the nose down to avoid a climb during our leveloff and acceleration. The EICAS alert broke his concentration on this task, and the turbulence negated the 'seat of our pants' feel which may have alerted us to our unintended climb.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FALSE EMER ALERT FROM EICAS DISTRACTS PLTS OF GLF4 FROM FLYING THE JET AND AN ALT EXCURSION RESULTS.

Narrative: MY HIGHLY EXPERIENCED FO WAS HAND FLYING, AUTOPLT AND AUTOTHROTTLES OFF. CLB WAS BEING CONDUCTED AT A HIGH RATE/SLOWER AIRSPD THAN NORMAL IN AN EFFORT TO CLB ABOVE CONTINUOUS MODERATE TURB. ATC DIRECTED A LEVELOFF AT 13000 FT MSL. MY FO LEVELED AT 13000 FT AND BEGAN TO ACCELERATE TO OUR TURB PENETRATION SPD OF 270 KTS. AT THIS TIME, THE EICAS SOUNDED A MOMENTARY, FALSE 3 BONG, RED, EMER ALERT. THIS IMMEDIATELY GOT BOTH OF OUR ATTNS. IT ONLY TOOK A SECOND OR 2 FOR ME TO REALIZED THE ALERT WAS FALSE, BUT THAT WAS ENOUGH FOR US TO CLB TO 13300 FT. I CALLED THE ALT TO MY FO AND HE IMMEDIATELY CORRECTED. WE TOPPED OUT AT ABOUT 13375 FT. FORTUNATELY THERE WERE NO TFC CONFLICTS. MODERATE TURB, ACFT PERFORMANCE (WE HAD A CLB RATE EXCEEDING 6000 FPM TO THIS POINT), NON USE OF AUTOMATION, AND THE HUMAN FACTORS INVOLVED WHEN A PIC HAS MUCH MORE EXPERIENCE IN TYPE, BUT FEWER YRS TOTAL EXPERIENCE THAN THE SIC, PLAYED A PART IN THIS INCIDENT. I BECAME COMPLACENT AND DID NOT RECOMMEND A MODERATION OF THE CLB RATE AS WE NEARED LEVELOFF OR THE USE OF THE AUTOTHROTTLES. AS A RESULT, MY FO NEEDED TO AGGRESSIVELY TRIM THE NOSE DOWN TO AVOID A CLB DURING OUR LEVELOFF AND ACCELERATION. THE EICAS ALERT BROKE HIS CONCENTRATION ON THIS TASK, AND THE TURB NEGATED THE 'SEAT OF OUR PANTS' FEEL WHICH MAY HAVE ALERTED US TO OUR UNINTENDED CLB.

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.