BE400 flight crew climbed early on the TEB 6 departure. The First Officer was flying and misinterpreted the SID instructions and the Captain was not assertive in his pronouncements nor did he take control of the aircraft to maintain 1500 FT.
Synopsis
BE400 flight crew climbed early on the TEB 6 departure. The First Officer was flying and misinterpreted the SID instructions and the Captain was not assertive in his pronouncements nor did he take control of the aircraft to maintain 1500 FT.
Narrative
Clearance included the TEB 6 Departure off of Runway 24. The Captain and I briefed the departure and we both felt satisfied that we understood the departure procedure. The textual description reads: 'Climb heading 240 to 1500 then climbing right turn to 280; cross TEB 4.5 DME at 1500; maintain 2000.' I misunderstood the instructions 'climbing right turn ' and 'maintain 2000' to mean continue the climb through 1500 to 2000 and overlooked the crossing restriction at 4.5 DME at 1500. I set 2000 into the altitude alerter prior to takeoff. The Captain noticed me passing through 1500 and stated '1500'. I thought he was making reference to initiating the turn to 280 and acknowledged 'yea; 1500'. I climbed through 1500 straight up to 2000 while turning to right to 280. I did not level off at 1500 until 4.5 DME. NY Departure queried us on if we had been assigned the RUUDY 2 and the Captain replied that we were assigned the TEB 6. He then assigned us 8;000 and soon thereafter handed us off to another frequency. He did not mention our altitude. We briefly talked about the confusion and I realized that I had made the error after rereading the departure description.The departures off of TEB are extremely confusing. In this case for Runway 24; the departure stated climb to 1500 and then make a climbing right turn to 280 when what it really wants you to do is maintain 1500 during the turn to 280. I suggest training pilots how to use VNAV for the departure as it works extremely well and had I used it in this case it might have saved me from making this error. Also; the Captain and I did not use clear communication during the time of the event to tell me I was making an error as he just stated '1500' instead of saying 'Altitude' or 'you need to stay at 1500!' Most importantly; I suggest that the TEB 6 Departure phraseology be reprinted to say; 'Climb heading 240 to 1500 then turn right to 280; cross TEB 4.5 DME at 1500; THEN climb to maintain 2000.' I think that phrase 'climbing right turn' is confusing. I also think the addition of the word 'then' before 'maintain 2000' would have caught my eye.
Second reporter narrative
Brief was conducted on TEB 6 Departure with First Officer while on the FBO ramp prior to engine start. We experienced about a 45 minute delay due to flow control. The First Officer was flying this leg. Finally obtained a departure release and TEB 6 Departure was re-briefed prior to accepting a takeoff clearance. I reread the departure instructions again asked the First Officer if he had any questions regarding the departure. He stated no questions. The altitude was set at 2000. The departure calls for a level off at 1500. I didn't question the Altitude select at 2000 because some pilots will manually level off at 1500 until they reach 4.5 DME then climb to 2000. We departed Runway 24 and at about 500 FT to reaching 1500 I called 'Altitude' approaching 1500. At 100 FT to level off I called 'altitude 1500 level off.' The First Officer continued to climb through 1500 and I called altitude again. At this point I contacted New York Departure and noticed the First Officer had made no attempt to level off until he got to 2000 FT ATC's only comment was are we on the RUUDY 2 Departure I stated 'no' the TEB 6. No further discussion was addressed by New York Departure as to our missed altitude. My mistake was not taking over the aircraft and leveling off at 1500 FT until we crossed the TEB 4.5 DME fix. I have reviewed the TEB 6 departure again and can see the confusion that First Officer had. The departure states to climb to 1500 FT then make a climbing right turn to 280 degrees. Maintain 2000 FT after crossing the TEB 4.5 DME fix. I feel that the 'make a climbing right turn' should be eliminated from the TEB 6 departure. The TEB 6 phrasing is confusing. ATC never questioned our actions.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.