A DISORIENTED STUDENT PLT MAY HAVE ENTERED PHL'S CLASS 'B' AIRSPACE.
Synopsis
A DISORIENTED STUDENT PLT MAY HAVE ENTERED PHL'S CLASS 'B' AIRSPACE.
Narrative
I WAS TRYING TO GO TO ILG BUT MISTAKENLY WENT TO PHL. I WAS FLYING TO PHL AND TALKING TO ILG TWR AND THAT IS HOW I FOUND OUT I WAS IN TROUBLE BECAUSE I VIOLATED THE AIRSPACE WITHOUT CONTACTING PHL TO SEE IF IT WAS OK FOR ME TO ENTER THE AIRSPACE. THE VIOLATION WAS ALL MY FAULT FOR NOT REALIZING WHERE I WAS GOING; BECAUSE I WAS USING THE VOR; BUT WHEN PHL CAME INTO SIGHT; I MADE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING IT WAS ILG. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM THIS SIT AND THEY ARE: 1) STUDY THE MAP A LITTLE BETTER AND KNOW EXACTLY WHERE I'M GOING INSTEAD OF JUST FLYING AROUND UP THERE; 2) WHEN USING THE VOR; ALWAYS TRUST THE INST BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE VOR IS FOR; TO HELP YOU IN TIME OF NEED WHEN YOU'RE FLYING VFR; 3) NEVER ASSUME AN ARPT THAT YOU SEE IN THE DISTANCE IS THE RIGHT ARPT THAT YOU WANT TO LAND AT BECAUSE IF YOU START GOING TO EVERY ARPT YOU SEE; YOU WILL NEVER GET WHERE YOU ARE GOING; 4) ALWAYS GET FLT FOLLOWING WHEN GOING ON XCOUNTRY TRIPS BECAUSE THAT WILL HELP YOU NAV FROM PLACE TO PLACE AND HELP YOU OUT WHEN YOU NEED HELP OR GET DISORIENTED. I HAVE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL FROM THIS SIT AND I THINK IT WILL MAKE ME A BETTER PLT IN THE LONG RUN. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTING STUDENT PLT WAS ON A ROUND ROBIN XCOUNTRY FROM HGR. HE HAD BEEN TO ABE; THEN WAS ON HIS WAY TO ILG WHEN HE BECAME DISORIENTED. WHEN HE WAS TALKING TO ILG AND ILG WAS UNABLE TO SEE HIM IN THE PATTERN; ILG GAVE HIM PHL'S TWR (OR APCH) FREQ. PHL GAVE THE RPTR A VECTOR TO ILG AND GAVE HIM A PHONE NUMBER TO CALL. PHL WAS VERY UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE SIT. THEY DID NOT NOTIFY FSDO; BUT DID NOTIFY THE RPTR'S HOMEBASE FBO. THE RPTR HAS RECEIVED FURTHER INSTRUCTION IN NAV AND BELIEVES THAT HE HAS LEARNED A LOT FROM THIS EXPERIENCE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.