Here's an interesting ASRS report from a pilot who was working a little too hard and slipped into the all-too-common mode of making mistakes. I've left it almost in its original form, with a few major grammatical and spelling errors corrected for ease of reading.
Upon taking off from the high altitude field (VFR in Class B airspace), I reported to Departure and was instructed to climb to 7000'. I was then instructed to resume my own navigation, so I turned to about 220 degrees and leveled at 7000 feet. I gave a radio call, "Level at 7000," with no answer. I intended to give another call when the controller asked, "Are you climbing or what? I showed you at 8000 feet." I responded that I was level at 7000 feet. He replied with a traffic report at 8000 in an area to my right. I spotted it about 3/4 mile to my right, at an altitude of, perhaps, 100 feet lower than I. It passed ahead of me, and I resumed my heading (I had turned left when observing the traffic). When he passed he told the controller, "That guy sure is not at 7000." The controller informed me that I was leaving the Class B airspace, "Squawk 1200" I said, "Thanks, I'll get my altimeter checked." And I was very serious: I thought I was having trouble with my Mode C when he first reported the improper altitude. I was sure that everything was properly set and functioning during preflight and takeoff. We had been having trouble with the Mode C transponder and had had it in the shop. But that was not the problem; it was ME! After leaving Class B airspace, I tuned back in on the airport ATIS and heard 30.16. This shocked me, as I was certain it was 29.16 when I set it during preflight. In fact, that was the first thing I looked at when the controller said I was at 8000.
Well, I did a lot of thinking about making such a stupid mistake. You see, I have always prided myself about being a real pro when it came to my flying - former Chief Pilot, instructor, etc.... So how did Ol'Pro get himself into such a fix? The biggest single cause was, likely, fatigue. I had been involved in a number of serious business issues of late, not sleeping well, got to the airport on a tight schedule, only to find that they had forgotten to ramp my plane. So, by the time I climbed into the plane, I had set myself up real good: not for flying, but for goofing! And that's what I did. During my preflight, I set the wrong .16 on the altimeter. In the long run, this will serve as a good lesson; I now realize that I am not invulnerable. I'd better start listening to some of the advice I have so freely given in the past about not flying when over-stressed, etc., etc. I may even take some vacation.
Perhaps some other pro will benefit from this. P.S. Please excuse the lousy typing job. You wouldn't expect me to have my secretary type it; what would she think of me - a perfect boss?
Several interesting morals exist in this story, the most important of which is that we shouldn't fly when fatigued. Additionally, it's good to be reminded of our vulnerability every once in a while. We should also pay particular attention to the altimeter setting. If the altimeter is set too low, it reads too low (and, if it's set too high, it reads too high). In this instance, the pilot had his altimeter set to 29.16 when the actual altimeter setting was 30.16. Being set too low, it caused the altimeter's hands to read too low (1,000 feet too low). When he was at 8,000 feet MSL, his altimeter indicated 7,000 feet.
I've found it valuable to actually say the altimeter setting (or other item) when I first hear it. Saying it out loud reinforces this item in short term memory, making it less likely that it will be forgotten or distorted. This is another reason why it's good to readback all clearance items, especially altitudes, headings and altimeter settings.
For more information on this subject, see "Altimetry Basics: How High is Up," "Altimetry Errors," "Flying Fatigued," and "To Pooped To Party."
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