SMA PLT USED DUAT FOR PREFLT BRIEFING AND NOTAM INFO. DUE TO LACK OF PLACEMENT WITH THE ARPT CODE; INFO WAS NOT NOTED. FLEW OVER CLOSED ARPT.

Date: 1996-07 · Aircraft: Cheetah; Tiger; Traveler AA5 Series

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

Synopsis

SMA PLT USED DUAT FOR PREFLT BRIEFING AND NOTAM INFO. DUE TO LACK OF PLACEMENT WITH THE ARPT CODE; INFO WAS NOT NOTED. FLEW OVER CLOSED ARPT.

Narrative

WANTED TO VISIT ARPT DURING BALLOON ACTIVITY. OBTAINED DUATS BRIEFING; DIDN'T SEE NOTAMS. CALLED ARPT; GOT RECORDED MESSAGE. NO MENTION THAT ARPT WAS CLOSED. FLEW 1000 FT OVER ARPT. SAW TURF STRIP WAS OPEN; BUT MAIN RWY WAS CLOSED. SAW 3-4 PLANES IN PATTERN FOR TURF. ENTERED PATTERN IN STANDARD MANNER (ON A 45 DEG DOWNWIND). RPTED POS ON UNICOM BUT HEARD NO OTHER TFC USING RADIO. SET UP APCH BUT WENT AROUND FOR ANOTHER TRY. SOMEONE CALLED ME; TOLD ME TURF STRIP WAS CLOSED TO PUBLIC FOR THE BALLOON ACTIVITY (I LEFT THE AREA). AFTER LNDG AT HOME; I REALIZED I HAD MISSED THE NOTAM BECAUSE I WAS SCANNING THE NOTAM LIST FOR N51; BUT IT WAS RPTED AFTER '!MIV' FOR THE FSS FACILITY; MILLVILLE. IN FACT; THE AIRSPACE WAS PROHIBITED FOR THE BALLOON ACTIVITY. IT WOULD BE SIMPLER IF NOTAMS STARTED WITH THE ARPT CODE; NOT THE FSS CODE. STILL; I SHOULD HAVE LOOKED MORE CLOSELY. I ALSO WISH THE ARPT HAD MENTIONED THE CLOSURE IN THEIR RECORDED PHONE MESSAGE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO FOLLOW-UP ACTION. NO COMMENT WAS MADE TO ANYONE. RPTR FEELS WHOEVER CALLED WERE LCL PEOPLE AND WERE WAITING FOR SOMEONE FROM MAINE TO ARRIVE AS THEY KEPT ASKING IF RPTR WAS FROM THERE. THIS IS ANOTHER PROB THAT'S PRESENT WITH NOTAM DISSEMINATION. IT MAY BE THAT THE DUAT FORMAT IS NOT THE SAME AS FAA FOR NOTAMS; BUT IT SHOULD BE. PLTS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SCAN SO MANY OTHER AREAS WHEN LOOKING FOR INFO REGARDING A SPECIFIC ARPT. SINCE THE NOTAM IS VERY OFTEN A SAFETY ISSUE; THE NOTAMS SHOULD BE WELL CIRCULATED AND PEOPLE EASILY INFORMED. THE SUGGESTION FOR NOTAMS TO START WITH AN ARPT CODE IS EXCELLENT. SINCE THE ARPT DID HAVE A RECORDED MESSAGE; IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SENSIBLE TO HAVE THE CLOSURE STATED THERE. ARPT CLOSED. SPECIAL INTEREST ACTIVITY BALLOON ACTIVITY. RPTR ACFT WAS A GRUMMAN TIGER.

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