CESSNA 185 PLT UNKNOWINGLY FLEW VFR WHEN ALL VFR FLTS HAD TEMPORARILY BEEN SUSPENDED DUE TO NATIONAL SECURITY.
Synopsis
CESSNA 185 PLT UNKNOWINGLY FLEW VFR WHEN ALL VFR FLTS HAD TEMPORARILY BEEN SUSPENDED DUE TO NATIONAL SECURITY.
Narrative
I DECIDED TO TAKE A SHORT LOCAL FLT OF THE S MOUNTAIN AREA TO SEE IF WHAT WE SPOTTED FROM CHIMNEY ROCKS WAS THE BIG FLAT TWRS. THERE WERE NO CLOUDS WITH UNLIMITED VIABILITY AND THE NATIONAL TELEVISION MEDIA RPT THAT THE NATIONAL AIRSPACE HAD BEEN REOPENED; WITH NO MENTION OF ANY VFR LIMITATIONS. I HAD OBSERVED MANY GA ACFT FLYING ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND DURING THE DAY SATURDAY. I ALWAYS CALL FLT SERVICE WHEN THERE ARE WX CONSIDERATIONS OR WHEN I'M FLYING TO A DISTANT ARPT; BUT WHEN FLYING LOCAL WITHIN 10 TO 15 NM OF MY HOME BASE IN GOOD VFR WX MY EXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT I DO NEED A BRIEFING. I DEPARTED AND FLEW SE TOWARD CALEDONIA STATE PARK LOCATED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF ROUTE 30 AND ROUTE 233. I HAD CLBED TO ABOUT 200 FT MSL AND COULD SEE A S MOUNTAIN RESTORATION CTR. I PROCEEDED S JUST BELOW S MOUNTAIN; PA; UNTIL I SPOTTED THE CHIMNEY ROCK FORMATION. I MADE A COUPLE OF PASSES OVER THE AREA AND THEN TURNED N. AS I FLEW N I COULD SEE THAT THE TWRS WE HAD SEEN THAT MORNING WERE DEFINITELY THE TWRS AT BIG FLAT. I ARRIVED AT BIG FLAT SEVERAL MINUTES LATER AND MADE TWO PASSES OVER THE AREA AT AN ALTITUDE OF APPROX 2200 FT MSL. I THEN TURNED; AND SEVERAL MINS LATER I REACHED THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAINS JUST S OF SHIPPENSBURG; PA. AT THIS TIME; ABOUT TWENTY MINS INTO THE FLT. I HEARD AN UNIDENTIFIED VOICE ON THE UNICOM FREQ OF 122.8 MHZ REQUESTING THAT THE ACFT; E OF CHAMBERSBURG; SHOULD CONTACT HARRISBURG APCH; BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT THAT ACFT. I PROCEED WEST AND SAW NO OTHER ACFT IN THE VICINITY; SO I CHANGED TO 124.1 MHZ AND CALLED HARRISBURG APPROACH AND IDENTIFIED MY ACFT. THEY REQUESTED THAT I PROCEED DIRECTLY TO THE CHAMBERSBURG ARPT; AND THEY GAVE ME A PHONE NUMBER TO CALL; UPON LNDG. I PROCEED HOME AND CALLED APCH AND THE LAND LINE. THEY TOOK MY NAME AND INFORMED ME THAT FLYING WAS TO BE DONE ONLY WITH AN IFR FLT PLAN AND THAT THE FAA WOULD BE CALLING ME. I WAS VERY CONFUSED AND PERPLEXED. IN MY MANY YEARS OF FLYING I HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED A TIME WHEN IFR FLT ONLY WAS ISSUED DURING A CLOUDLESS UNLIMITED VISIBILITY VFR DAY; AND MY DECISION TO FLY ON 9/SAT/01; WAS BASED ON MY PAST EXPERIENCE; AND ON THE NATIONAL NEWS MEDIA RPTS I HAD HEARD. IN THE FUTURE IT WOULD SEEM PRUDENT TO REQUEST SOME SORT OF PREFLT BRIEFING BEFORE ALL FLT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.