1995-12 · NASA ASRS report 324786
WHILE ON A FERRY FLT; THE PLT BECAME CONFUSED ABOUT THE ACFT'S POS. THE PLT WAS UNABLE TO WORK THE NAV RADIO AND LOST IDENTIFIABLE GND REFS AS IT BECAME DUSK. RADIO CONTACT WAS ESTABLISHED THROUGH A RELAY AND THE PLT RECEIVED VECTORS FROM APCH CTL TO THE DEST.
LEFT DWH FOR A FERRY FLT TO X05. PLANNED TO REMAIN OVERNIGHT IN BTR SINCE I WAS ON A VFR DAY ONLY FERRY PERMIT. WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH ACFT AND RADIOS. AS DUSK SETTLED IN; I STARTED LOSING GND REFS AND DID NOT KNOW HOW TO WORK VOR RADIO; THEREFORE; I DIDN'T KNOW MY EXACT POS. AS I CAME UPON A TOWN WITH AN ARPT LOCATED ON THE N TO NW; I LOOKED AT THE E AND W RWYS AND LOOKED AT THE SECTIONAL; AND THOUGHT I WAS OVER BTR. HAVING THOUGHT I JUST VIOLATED THEIR AIRSPACE; I IMMEDIATELY TURNED 180 DEGS TO DEPART THE AREA. I CONTACTED BTR ATC AFTER I WAS 5-10 MI FROM THE ARPT. NO ONE ANSWERED ME; AND I COULDN'T HEAR THEM. ANOTHER ACFT RELAYED FOR ME AND BTR. IT EVENTUALLY CAME TO ME (10 MINS OR SO) THAT THIS WAS NOT BTR. AT THE SAME TIME; I WAS TOLD TO CONTACT LAFAYETTE APCH; THEY GAVE ME MY POS AND VECTORS TO BTR. DID I EVER FEEL FOOLISH. I HAVE LEARNED NEVER TO TAKE AN ACFT UNLESS I HAVE BECOME COMPLETELY FAMILIAR WITH ALL SYS! I DID THE PROPER PROC BY CONTACTING APCH; EXCEPT I WASN'T WHERE I THOUGHT OR SAID I WAS. REST OF THE TRIP WAS UNEVENTFUL.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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