A BE1900 first officer reported an altitude deviation that he attributed in large part to fatigue; c...

Narrative:

ATC had assigned 9;000 ft as our initial altitude however we had entered into our altitude preselect 10;000 and checked on with departure that we were climbing to 10;000 ft. ATC didn't correct the altitude. We leveled off at 10;000 ft; which was 1;000 ft high. After a few minutes at that altitude; ATC asked what our altitude was and then gave us a climb. It did not appear that there was a loss of separation. One of the contributing factors to this occurrence was that we were fatigued. Neither the captain nor I had slept well in our hotel [the previous night]. The captain was on reduced rest; as he had come in on a later flight the night before. I had dead-headed in on an earlier flight in the day. The flight where the altitude deviation occurred was leg 6 of 7 for us and the last day of the trip. We had been working non-stop since early that morning. We did not have any time for any real meals. This is common practice for [our airline's] scheduling practices. We are very short staffed and our schedules are having us fly more than in the past. This type of event could be minimized by giving flight crews longer overnights; time for meals and shorter duty days. Reduced rest the night before and a 13:30 duty day with minimal breaks does not promote safety.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE1900 First Officer reported an altitude deviation that he attributed in large part to fatigue; citing his regional air carrier's policies as contributing to fatigue problems.

Narrative: ATC had assigned 9;000 FT as our initial altitude however we had entered into our altitude preselect 10;000 and checked on with Departure that we were climbing to 10;000 FT. ATC didn't correct the altitude. We leveled off at 10;000 FT; which was 1;000 FT high. After a few minutes at that altitude; ATC asked what our altitude was and then gave us a climb. It did not appear that there was a loss of separation. One of the contributing factors to this occurrence was that we were fatigued. Neither the Captain nor I had slept well in our hotel [the previous night]. The Captain was on reduced rest; as he had come in on a later flight the night before. I had dead-headed in on an earlier flight in the day. The flight where the altitude deviation occurred was leg 6 of 7 for us and the last day of the trip. We had been working non-stop since early that morning. We did not have any time for any real meals. This is common practice for [our airline's] scheduling practices. We are very short staffed and our schedules are having us fly more than in the past. This type of event could be minimized by giving flight crews longer overnights; time for meals and shorter duty days. Reduced rest the night before and a 13:30 duty day with minimal breaks does not promote safety.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	902326
Time
Date	201008
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Beech 1900
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	SID ZZZ
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 2300 Flight Crew Type 1500
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance

A BE1900 first officer reported an altitude deviation that he attributed in large part to fatigue; citing his regional air carrier's policies as contributing to fatigue problems.