What happened
On April 17, 2016, a Cessna 208 was conducting skydiving operations, departing from a landing strip to perform jumps. During the climb, the pilot was cleared to flight level FL 150. However, the aircraft exceeded this assigned altitude, with the transponder indicating the aircraft had reached FL 156.
While the aircraft was at the unauthorized altitude, air traffic controllers from Warsaw Approach (APP EPWA) attempted to contact the pilot multiple times. The pilot did not respond to these communications. The pilot only acknowledged the controller's calls when the aircraft descended back through the assigned FL 150.
The investigation
The investigation established that the pilot, a commercial pilot with 810 total flight hours, was engaged in a conversation with an instructor pilot regarding skydiving procedures during the climb. Due to the high volume of radio traffic on the 128.8 MHz and 122.2 MHz frequencies, the pilot had lowered the volume of the radio station, which prevented the crew from hearing the controller's instructions.
Findings
- The primary cause of the altitude deviation was the lowered volume of the radio station.
- The pilot's attention was diverted due to conducting discussions with the instructor pilot regarding jump procedures.