THE PLT OF AN SMA ACFT CONTINUED IN MVFR CONDITIONS TO THE DEST AFTER FLYING AN APCH INTO BFI AND CANCELING IFR. IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN VFR IN UNCTLED AIRSPACE; THE RPTR HAD TO FLY AT LESS THAN 1000 FT AGL OVER A CONGESTED AREA.
Synopsis
THE PLT OF AN SMA ACFT CONTINUED IN MVFR CONDITIONS TO THE DEST AFTER FLYING AN APCH INTO BFI AND CANCELING IFR. IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN VFR IN UNCTLED AIRSPACE; THE RPTR HAD TO FLY AT LESS THAN 1000 FT AGL OVER A CONGESTED AREA.
Narrative
IT WAS AN INST FLT FROM ELLENSBURG; WA; WITH A FINAL DEST OF AUBURN; WA. THE WX WAS BELOW THE MVA OF SEA APCH (2000 FT); SO I FILED FOR BFI. ALONG MY RTE OF FLT; I WAS IMC FROM 8000-2500 FT MSL WITH A SCATTERED LAYER BELOW AT 800-700 FT AGL. MY COMPANY TFC WAS APPROX 20 MINS AHEAD; LEAVING BFI ON AN SVFR CLRNC. I WAS MONITORING HIS PROGRESS TO AUBURN AND I HEARD HIM RPT THE FIELD IN SIGHT TO SEATTLE APCH; WHICH WAS THE SAME RTE I WAS ABOUT TO FLY. BFI'S ATIS WAS RPTING 700 FT SCATTERED; 1500 FT BROKEN; VISIBILITY 3 MI IN LIGHT RAIN AND FOG; AND AS I WAS CLRED FOR THE ILS RWY 13R AT BFI; SEA APCH WAS ADVISING SEA ATIS WAS 600 FT SCATTERED; 1500 FT BROKEN. KNOWING SEA IS 372 FT ABOVE AUBURN; I HAD ASSURANCE THAT I WOULD BE ABLE TO FLY THE TRANSITION TO AUBURN VFR AND CLR OF CLOUDS. AFTER COMPLETION OF THE APCH I WAS VFR BELOW 700 FT AGL WITH 1 MI VISIBILITY AND CLR OF CLOUDS. I CONTACTED SEA APCH FOR VFR FLT FOLLOWING TO AUBURN IN THE EVENT I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN 1 MI VISIBILITY AND CLR OF THE CLOUDS; I COULD HAVE PICKED UP AN IFR CLRNC TO BFI FOR THE ILS AND A FULL STOP. I FOLLOWED SR167 WHICH IS A 4 LANE HWY THAT LEADS TO THE APCH END OF RWY 16 AT AUBURN. ALONG MY CHOSEN RTE I ENCOUNTERED A RAGGED CEILING BTWN 700-500 FT AGL. IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN 1 MI VISIBILITY AND CLR OF CLOUDS; MY ALT WAS OCCASIONALLY 500 FT AGL WHICH PREVENTED ME FROM REMAINING 1000 FT ABOVE A CONGESTED AREA. AT ANY HIGHER OF AN ALT I WOULD HAVE BEEN IMC; SO I MADE THE DECISION TO REMAIN UNDER 700 FT AGL VFR TO AUBURN. THE FLT ENDED WITH A SAFE LNDG AT AUBURN BUT; TO AVOID FUTURE OCCURRENCES BELOW 1000 FT OVER A CONGESTED AREA; I WILL BE MAKING IFR APCHS TO A FULL STOP AND WAITING THE WX OUT; OR HAVE SOMEONE PICK ME UP AT ANOTHER ARPT WITH BETTER WX.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.