SMA ENTERED CLASS D AIRSPACE AND LAND WITHOUT CLRNC.

Date: 1994-05 · Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-landing-without-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-airspace-violation-entry-or-exit

Synopsis

SMA ENTERED CLASS D AIRSPACE AND LAND WITHOUT CLRNC.

Narrative

WHILE CONDUCTING A PHOTO FLT OF THE SOUTHERN ALABAMA REGION MY PHOTOGRAPHER AND I LANDED AT THE ANDALUSIA ARPT. DUE TO THE NATURE OF PHOTO FLTS; FLT PLANNING IS OFTEN DONE ENRTE AS THE PHOTOGRAPHER REQUIRES. AS SUCH; I WAS NOT AWARE OF THE FACT THAT A MIL CTL TWR HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED AT ANDALUSIA. I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT MAGENTA ARPTS ARE 'UNCTLED' AND SIMPLY MADE POS RPTS ANNOUNCING MY INTENTIONS ON THE UNICOM FREQ OF 122.8 MHZ. I LANDED WITHOUT CONTACTING THE TWR. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: I DID NOT STUDY THE ARPT AREA ON THE SECTIONAL ENOUGH TO NOTICE BLUE DASHED RING ENCIRCLING THE ARPT. ARPT ADVISORIES; THOUGH REQUESTED; DID NOT ADVISE ME OF THIS STRANGE AIRSPACE MARKING. INCONSISTENCY IN AIRSPACE MARKING ON CURRENT SECTIONAL CHARTS. I.E.; CLASS 'D' ARPTS WITH MAGENTA ARPTS AND BLUE SEGMENTED CIRCLES MISSING UPPER LIMIT ALTS. EXAMPLE: ANDALUSIA (79J); OR BLUE ARPTS MISSING BLUE SEGMENTED CIRCLES AND UPPER LIMIT ALTS. EXAMPLE: HAGLER AAF (SLJ). THESE INCONSISTENCIES ARE BOTH CONFUSING AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS IF A PLT WERE TO LAND WHILE ANOTHER WERE TO BE 'CLRED FOR TKOF' AS A RESULT OF MISREADING THE SECTIONAL CHART.

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