Citationjet (C525/C526) - CJ I / II / III / IV
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 80; Flight Crew Total 4400; Flight Crew Type 650
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation - Altitude Crossing Restriction Not Met; Deviation - Altitude Overshoot; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance
Chart Or Publication; Procedure; Human Factors
On initial climb out of APA; we checked in with Denver departure and stated that we were at 8;500 feet climbing via the EPKEE SID. Top altitude for this departure is FL230 and that is the altitude we had set in the altitude preselect. We were on an ATC assigned heading of 330 degrees. The controller informed us that we were supposed to level-off at 8;000 feet per our clearance. He then immediately cleared us to continue the climb to maintain FL230. He asked what our clearance was and we stated that there was no altitude restriction given in the clearance. The SIC was the pilot that received the clearance from clearance delivery at APA and he was certain that 8;000 feet was not given for a top of climb limit. I verified that the TOLD card (where the SIC copied the clearance) only stated the EPKEE departure then climb via the SID so I am confident that was what the SIC read back to the CD controller. The remainder of the flight continued without incident. I believe that a contributing factor may have been the CD controller working multiple frequencies and either not issuing the 8;000 feet restriction or not catching that the SIC failed to read back the clearance correctly. It seems counterproductive to publish a SID with a top altitude of FL230 only to issue a lower altitude in the clearance. Telling aircraft to climb via a SID except to maintain a lower altitude doesn't even make sense for most SIDS unless there are hard altitudes to make along the route of the procedure. My suggestion to correct this would be to make it mandatory for tower controllers to say the initial altitude to departing aircraft if they are expected to level off at an altitude that is different from what is published on the chart.
C525 Captain reported climbing above his cleared altitude of 8;000 feet on the EPKEE SID out of APA when he misunderstood the 'climb via' clearance.