SMA CANCELS IFR FOR WX AVOIDANCE BUT ENTERS ATA WITHOUT CONTACT. CONCERNED REF ATA NOT BEING MARKED ON CHART.

1992-08 · NASA ASRS report 219903

Date: 1992-08 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|other-airspace-violation-entry-or-exit

Synopsis

SMA CANCELS IFR FOR WX AVOIDANCE BUT ENTERS ATA WITHOUT CONTACT. CONCERNED REF ATA NOT BEING MARKED ON CHART.

Narrative

WE DEPARTED ON AN IFR FLT PLAN. FLT PLAN ALT WAS 7000 FT. WX AT DEP: VFR; 3500 SCATTERED. ENRTE WX INCLUDED NUMEROUS TRW ALONG THE RTE; SCATTERED CLOUDS AT 3000-5000 FT. THE TRW ACTIVITY WAS WIDELY SCATTERED AIRMASS-TYPE ACTIVITY. DEP WAS NORMAL AND WE WERE CLRED TO OUR PLANNED FLT OF 7000 FT AND TOLD TO INTERCEPT V260; WHICH WE DID. ARRIVING AT OUR ASSIGNED ALT; I DETERMINED THAT THE SAFEST WAY TO REMAIN CLR OF ANY TRW ACTIVITY WAS TO BE ALLOWED TO DEVIATE LATERALLY TO REMAIN OUT OF BUILD-UPS. I REQUESTED AND RECEIVED CLRNC TO DEVIATE LATERALLY. MODERATE DEVS WERE ACCOMPLISHING THE GOAL AS STATED ABOVE UNTIL APPROX 10-15 MI NW OF RNL. AT THIS POINT; I NOTICED AN AREA OF DEVELOPED ACTIVITY AHEAD WITH CEILINGS SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN MY ALT; AND TOPS WELL ABOVE; EXTENDING FOR AN UNDETERMINED DISTANCE ON EITHER SIDE OF MY INTENDED RTE. I CHKED MY SECTIONALS TO ASSURE THAT TERRAIN CLRNC WOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO PROCEED SAFELY UNDER VFR; THEN REQUESTED AND RECEIVED CANCELLATION OF IFR. WHILE CONCENTRATING ON CIRCUMNAVING THE ACTIVITY; YET WHILE STILL OSTENSIBLY RECEIVING RADAR SVC; I FLEW OVER LWB AT 5000 FT MSL; BELOW THE TOP OF THEIR ATA BY 300 FT. THERE DID NOT APPEAR TO BE ANY OTHER TFC IN THE AREA AND THERE WAS NO APPARENT SAFETY-OF-FLT PROBLEM SUCH AS A TFC CONFLICT. I DID NOT MAKE CONTACT WITH THE TWR AT LWB AND WAS NOT TOLD TO DO BY ATC. HOWEVER; I'M NOT SURE THE EXTENT TO WHICH CTR WAS ACTUALLY PROVIDING ME WITH RADAR SVC AS THEY HAD NOT GIVEN ME ANY ADVISORIES AFTER THE TIME I HAD CANCELLED MY IFR PLAN. SHORTLY AFTER OVERFLYING LWB; I REQUESTED AND RECEIVED; FROM CTR; A NEW IFR CLRNC TO MY DEST; STILL RETAINING THE SAME SQUAWK CODE I HAD SINCE DEP FROM CRW. I WAS APPARENTLY STILL IN RADAR CONTACT THE ENTIRE TIME AS ATC DID NOT HAVE TO ASK MY POS PRIOR TO GIVING ME A NEW CLRNC. FINALLY; I SUGGEST THAT VFR SECTIONAL CHARTS BE IMPROVED BY DELINEATING ATAS. ATAS ARE THE ONLY CTLED AIRSPACE NOT DELINEATED ON THE SECTIONAL CHARTS. A PLT MUST; AT BEST; APPROXIMATE THE LINEAR DIMENSIONS OF THE ATA. THE BLUE-COLORED ARPT SYMBOL ONLY INDICATES THAT A TWR; AND THEREFORE AN ATA; ARE PRESENT. IN THE CASE OF LWB; THE ARPT SYMBOL IS ON ONE SIDE (S) OF THE CHART (CINCINNATI SECTIONAL); YET THE ATA APPEARS THAT IT COULD EXTEND ONTO THE OTHER SIDE (N) OF THE CHART. BECAUSE THE AIRSPACE IS NOT OTHERWISE MARKED; IT BECOMES NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO READILY DETERMINE; UNDER STRESSFUL CONDITIONS; IF AN INCURSION OF THE ATA OF AN ARPT; WHOSE SYMBOL IS LOCATED NEAR THE EDGE OF THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE CHART; IS ABOUT TO OCCUR.

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

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