Narrative:

We had a normal 1/2 hour turn scheduled to pick up the owner's sister and continue part 135 to our destination. During our taxi to the FBO on the first leg; the captain/pilot not flying copied the IFR clearance for the next leg. Upon shutdown; captain escorted the owner into the FBO to stretch her legs; loaded bags; re-loaded the two passengers for the next leg; and gave the passenger safety briefing. I stayed in the cockpit to set up for the next leg. The clearance the captain had copied was industry 4 [SID]- idu - biter 5 20/120; followed by a departure frequency and squawk. I noted that he hadn't recorded an initial level off altitude; which didn't raise any alarms; as this is often omitted from a clearance when issued a departure procedure. Upon reviewing the departure procedure; I saw that 'all other airports' are directed to level off at 4;000 MSL on the assigned heading. I also noted that dwh was not listed as an airport served on the industry 4 SID. This also did not raise alarms; as we are often assigned stars and departure procedures to major metropolitan areas when we're actually going to a satellite airport not listed on the procedure. Satisfied that I had familiarized myself with all necessary information; I briefed an initial altitude of 4;000 ft during the pre-departure safety briefing and loaded 4;000 ft in the altitude alerter during the after start checklist. Tower assigned an initial heading of 290 and cleared us for takeoff. We turned at about 700 ft and subsequently were handed off to houston approach. I attempted to check in passing 2;000 ft and stated '2;000 ft for 4;000 ft.' there was a long pause followed by; 'aircraft calling houston; say again.' I repeated my check in; followed by; 'who told you to climb to 4;000 ft?' I stated that the departure procedure did. In the meantime; the captain was rapidly but smoothly leveling off at 2;600 ft. The controller issued a heading of 230 and directed us down to 2;000 ft. A few minutes later we were handed off to another houston approach frequency. In signing off; I thanked the first controller for his help; and he responded; 'no problem.'in discussing what had happened; the captain said that '20/120' meant an initial altitude of 2;000 ft; expect 12;000. I completely missed this; as my own notation habit is '^020 120/10' which would mean climb to an initial altitude of 2;000 ft; expect 12;000 ft in 10 minutes. Clearly; this incident was my fault for not ensuring that I understood each thing he wrote in copying the clearance. I knew he meant the final altitude was 12;000 ft but never queried him about the '20.'query anything you don't understand in a clearance; written or verbal. 2. Perhaps split the ground duties differently. I could have just as easily loaded bags and passengers; and briefed them; and the captain could have finished what he had begun. This would perhaps have allowed one set of eyes to spot the discrepancy between the issued verbal clearance and the written departure procedure instructions.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The failure of the Flight Crew to coordinate the receipt and execution of their airways clearance resulted in their failure to comply with the cleared altitude after takeoff.

Narrative: We had a normal 1/2 hour turn scheduled to pick up the owner's sister and continue Part 135 to our destination. During our taxi to the FBO on the first leg; the Captain/pilot not flying copied the IFR clearance for the next leg. Upon shutdown; Captain escorted the owner into the FBO to stretch her legs; loaded bags; re-loaded the two passengers for the next leg; and gave the passenger safety briefing. I stayed in the cockpit to set up for the next leg. The clearance the Captain had copied was Industry 4 [SID]- IDU - Biter 5 20/120; followed by a departure frequency and squawk. I noted that he hadn't recorded an initial level off altitude; which didn't raise any alarms; as this is often omitted from a clearance when issued a departure procedure. Upon reviewing the departure procedure; I saw that 'All Other Airports' are directed to level off at 4;000 MSL on the assigned heading. I also noted that DWH was not listed as an Airport Served on the Industry 4 SID. This also did not raise alarms; as we are often assigned STARs and departure procedures to major metropolitan areas when we're actually going to a satellite airport not listed on the procedure. Satisfied that I had familiarized myself with all necessary information; I briefed an initial altitude of 4;000 FT during the pre-departure safety briefing and loaded 4;000 FT in the altitude alerter during the After Start checklist. Tower assigned an initial heading of 290 and cleared us for takeoff. We turned at about 700 FT and subsequently were handed off to Houston Approach. I attempted to check in passing 2;000 FT and stated '2;000 FT for 4;000 FT.' There was a long pause followed by; 'Aircraft calling Houston; say again.' I repeated my check in; followed by; 'Who told you to climb to 4;000 FT?' I stated that the departure procedure did. In the meantime; the Captain was rapidly but smoothly leveling off at 2;600 FT. The Controller issued a heading of 230 and directed us down to 2;000 FT. A few minutes later we were handed off to another Houston Approach frequency. In signing off; I thanked the first Controller for his help; and he responded; 'No problem.'In discussing what had happened; the Captain said that '20/120' meant an initial altitude of 2;000 FT; expect 12;000. I completely missed this; as my own notation habit is '^020 120/10' which would mean climb to an initial altitude of 2;000 FT; expect 12;000 FT in 10 minutes. Clearly; this incident was my fault for not ensuring that I understood each thing he wrote in copying the clearance. I knew he meant the final altitude was 12;000 FT but never queried him about the '20.'Query anything you don't understand in a clearance; written or verbal. 2. Perhaps split the ground duties differently. I could have just as easily loaded bags and passengers; and briefed them; and the Captain could have finished what he had begun. This would perhaps have allowed one set of eyes to spot the discrepancy between the issued verbal clearance and the written departure procedure instructions.

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.