B737-800
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Distraction; Workload; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation - Speed All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Human Factors
[We had a] flap exceedance of four knots. A routine runway heading to 5000 feet quickly morphed into a task saturated event as ATC realized they had authorized takeoff without necessary spacing. At about 400 feet in climb crew received seven transmissions before 1900 feet AGL. Also two changes to altitude; one being a low-level level off. During the same period the plane was transitioned through three flight mode changes to attempt the rapid fire compliance. The calls (all separate) were; turn left to 040; next stop climb at 2500 feet; next was a verification call that we had received the 040 heading (we were already halfway thru the turn); then a call to another aircraft; then a traffic call; then a call to turn further left to 320; then a call to go to departure; upon check-in the call to climb and maintain 17000 feet. All that prior to 2400 feet MSL. Simultaneously the FMC was stepping through its phases but at 2200 MSL as it accelerated it was about to pitch up even though 2500 ft was armed; as PF I announced the oncoming trap; said that it couldn't keep up; command bars up; vertical speed selected but didn't take as alt acquired over-rode that mode; no speed window open because plane wasn't at altitude yet. I announced that it can't speed protect and manually retarded the throttles. Flaps were commanded up but weren't up as plane hit 244 knots. Before the plane even got to 2500 feet we had been switched to departure and were cleared to 17000; VNAV was selected and the event was over. All this in the first 1900 feet of climb. This event is actually a testament to the SOP and training at our airline. Teamwork and identification of the traps enabled the crew to anticipate; adjust; and comply in rapid fire manner to this nonstandard event. Prioritizing; knowing the system's capabilities and weaknesses; the work arounds; etc; turned an ATC crunch into a benign event with the exception of the four knots of flap exceedance. Flap speed buffer once again proves wise. Recommendation is for all to pay attention to training and do as trained.
B737-800 Captain reported exceeding flap limit speed when ATC overloaded them with clearances early in the climb.