Large Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument
Situational Awareness
Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation - Speed All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Human Factors
We were given instructions to taxi to 36L for departure. There were two aircraft ahead of us in the queue; a Cessna 208 Caravan which had taken the runway for departure; and an Aircraft Z which was given a line up and wait clearance. The Caravan was given a westerly heading and altitude and departed. The controller asked the Aircraft Z if they had the Caravan in sight by which the Aircraft Z replied with: 'affirmative'. The controller issued a heading and takeoff clearance to the Aircraft Z very soon after the Caravan departed. Subsequently; we were given a line up and wait clearance. The Aircraft Z departed and shortly after; the controller asked if we had the Aircraft Z in sight. I replied: 'affirmative'. Shortly thereafter; we were issued a takeoff clearance with a 330 heading. We complied with the clearance however; my immediate thoughts were that events were happening very quickly. I was pilot flying. Upon takeoff; there was a mild crosswind and some wind gusts. Our takeoff was uneventful and a turn to 330 heading was commenced climbing through 400ft. Our initial altitude was 4;000ft and after switching to departure frequency; the controller assigned a climb to 16;000ft. As we climbed to 4;100ft; we were given an amendment to stop our climb at 5;000ft. I was hand flying and disabled the auto throttles. My rationale was at the high rate of climb and the impending level off; I didn't want the aircraft to exceed the altitude or airspeed. Still hand flying; a smooth level off was made at 5;000ft. [We received a] TCAS TA followed by a TCAS RA to: 'LEVEL; LEVEL'. The controller issued a 270 heading and the Captain focused his attention outside in order to acquire the traffic. I turned to the 270 heading and stayed on the instruments. I was a bit stymied by the TCAS RA directive to level when we were already level at 5;000ft. In addition; our climb rate from 4;100- 5;000ft was not more than 1500 fpm. Once level; I noticed my speed was excessive at or around 260kts and accelerating. To counter this trend; I slowly reduced power. As the Captain was scanning for traffic; he took a cursory look at the instruments and noticed the excessive airspeed. He rightfully intervened and 'chopped the power'. We noticed our airspeed was about 273kts for about 5 seconds. The airspeed soon recovered to 250kts and then I asked to be re-automated. The auto throttles and auto pilot were activated and we both scanned for the traffic threat. The controller soon gave us a clearance to FL230 and did not mention the airspeed breach. We did however receive a nastygram from the FMS. The crew refrained from discussing the event until we were [clear] of traffic threats and in level flight. As I reflect on the calamity; there is an inherent omission in my airmanship scan. We were carrying 3 jump seaters and the carrying of passengers will often create a change in how we use the flight controls. In other words; I will attempt to offer a smoother input on the power and the flight controls in the spirit of providing a smoother flight for my passengers. In this case; it was quite a bumpy ride as we had encountered some wake turbulence from the company Aircraft Z and my power and control inputs were quite timid. I should had been more emphatic in my reducing the power in order to slow down in a quicker fashion. Being still fairly new in the operation and aircraft; I am acquainting myself with this aircraft and its handling qualities every minute that I fly it. Pair this with the fact that the controller had launched three aircraft in about a two minute time span. The work load had been compounded not only with an immediate level off clearance but the subsequent TCAS TA/RA. While not attempting to absolve myself from the responsibility from flying the airplane and controlling the airspeed; the said event was quite stressful and fraught with potential peril. It became apparent to us that the threatening aircraft was the Cessna 208 that had launched shortly before us. While more care should had been given to control airspeed; the main focus was to avoid the conflict by complying with the TCAS directive.
Air carrier First Officer reported an airspeed deviation shortly after departure.