NO FLT PLAN WHEN RETURNING ON INTL FLT. MIL INTERCEPT.

Date: 1991-09 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; High Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-airspace-violation-entry-or-exit|other-unspecified

Synopsis

NO FLT PLAN WHEN RETURNING ON INTL FLT. MIL INTERCEPT.

Narrative

I WENT TO WALKERS CAY IN THE BAHAMAS FOR A DAY OF SCUBA DIVING WITH A FRIEND. I LEFT FROM ORLANDO ABOUT XY00 AM. I FILED A FLT PLAN WHEN I LEFT ON THE TELEPHONE WITH ST PETERSBURG FSS. MY FRIEND AND I STAYED ON THE ISLAND (WALKERS CAY) SAT AND LEFT SUN MORNING. I TRIED TO USE THE TELEPHONE TO FILE A FLT PLAN BUT THE TELEPHONE THERE ONLY WORKS SOMETIMES. I WENT AHEAD AND TOOK OFF AND GOT SO OVERWHELMED ABOUT FLYING HOME AND OVER THE WATER ALONE; THAT I FIGURED I WOULD JUST GO ON TO FT PIERCE. I RADIOED THE TWR ABOUT 10 MI FROM THE ARPT THAT I WAS INBOUND FOR LNDG. WHEN I GOT THE COASTLINE I SAW AN FGT COME UP ON MY R WING. AT THIS TIME I KNEW THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG AND GOT REAL NERVOUS. I SAW IN MAGAZINES WHERE FGT ACFT WILL SHOOT YOU DOWN WHEN YOU ARE NOT DOING THE RIGHT THING. WHEN I LANDED THE ACFT I WAS SO NERVOUS AFTER SEEING THE FGT AND DID NOT KNOW IF THEY WERE FOLLOWING ME IN OR NOT; I LANDED AND EXITED THE RWY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. CUSTOM AGENTS AT FT PIERCE GAVE ME VIOLATION WARNINGS FOR NO FLT PLAN; NOT 1 HR ARR NOTICE AND BAD LNDG. WELL; THE SOLUTION TO MY PROBLEM IS BEFORE I GO ON INTL FLTS; I SHOULD STUDY AND KNOW IN DEPTH THE CORRECT PROCS. THIS WAY I WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SEEING FGT'S AND JEOPARDIZING MY LNDG AND HAVING CUSTOMS AGENTS SCARE ME TO DEATH. I WOULD ALSO STRONGLY SUGGEST PRIVATE PLTS BE TOLD SPECIFICALLY ABOUT INTL FLYING SO THEY KNOW THAT THEY HAVE TO FILE FLT PLANS AND NOT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.