SMA PLT FLEW INTO P49 AFTER MAKING A NAVIGATIONAL PLANNING ERROR AND USING THE WRONG VOR THAN THE ONE INTENDED. HE WAS ADVISED BY TWR AND GIVEN A TELEPHONE NUMBER TO CALL AFTER LNDG.

Date: 2002-01 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: airspace-violation-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far

Synopsis

SMA PLT FLEW INTO P49 AFTER MAKING A NAVIGATIONAL PLANNING ERROR AND USING THE WRONG VOR THAN THE ONE INTENDED. HE WAS ADVISED BY TWR AND GIVEN A TELEPHONE NUMBER TO CALL AFTER LNDG.

Narrative

I ACCIDENTALLY FLEW INTO THE P49 TEMPORARY FLT RESTR NEAR CRAWFORD; TX. MY FLT PLANNING WAS THE PROB. THE ENTIRE TIME I WAS PLANNING MY FLT; I WAS TRANSPOSING THE TEMPLE VOR (TPL) FOR THE WACO VOR (ACT). I'M NOT SURE WHY OR HOW THIS ERROR CREPT INTO MY THINKING. I WAS PLANNING THE TRIP THE NIGHT BEFORE AND WAS ACTUALLY LOCATING THE TFR ON THE CHART WHILE THE NOTAM WAS BEING DISPLAYED ON MY COMPUTER VIA DUATS. DREW A 10 NM SQUARE ON THE CHART WHERE THE TFR EXISTS. THE RTE I PROGRAMMED INTO MY GPS AND THE RTE I FILED WITH THE FSS WAS STRAIGHT THROUGH THE TFR. ON THE MORNING OF THE FLT; I PULLED UP MY SAVED FLT PLAN; READ THE NOTAMS AGAIN AND PRINTED THEM. I FILED MY FLT PLAN VIA THE DUATS WEBSITE. I CALLED THE FSS AND I REQUESTED THAT MY FLT PLAN BE ACTIVATED. THE OPERATOR AT THE FSS ASKED 'ARE YOU AWARE OF THE TEMPORARY FLT RESTRS?' I REPLIED; 'YES I AM.' AND WONDERED WHY HE ASKED ME AS MY FILED RTE WAS TAKING ME AROUND THE TFR. (I THOUGHT). HE SAID OK AND GAVE ME THE LOCAL ALTIMETER SETTING. NOW I THINK BACK AND REALIZE HE COULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT MY RTE WAS TAKING ME THROUGH THE TFR AS HE PROBABLY REALIZED IT WHEN HE LOOKED AT MY FLT PLAN. I WAS AT 5500 FEET MSL AND TRACKING THE TPL VOR. WHEN I WAS OVER TOP OF THE TPL VOR WAS THE FIRST TIME THINGS DIDN'T LOOK RIGHT; THE VOR STATION DIDN'T LOOK QUITE RIGHT IN RELATION TO THE BODY OF WATER (I WAS LOOKING AT THE ACT VOR ON THE CHART; BUT WAS OVER TPL VOR). I HAD OVER A 30 MPH TAILWIND AT THAT TIME. I WAS LOOKING AT THE CHART AND TRYING TO IDENTIFY LANDMARKS. NOTHING SEEMED TO LOOK RIGHT. AS SOON AS I REALIZED MY PLANNING ERROR; I TURNED DUE E HOPING THAT I HAD NOT YET ENTERED THE TFR AIRSPACE. I IMMEDIATELY TUNED IN THE ACT VOR AND SET 360 IN THE OBS. WHEN I INTERCEPTED THE RADIAL I TURNED N AND TUNED IN THE TWR FREQ. THE TWR CALLED AND ASKED IF I KNEW THAT I HAD FLOWN INTO THE TFR. I SAID I WASN'T SURE AND HE SAID THAT I DID. THE TWR OPERATOR GAVE ME A NUMBER TO CALL WHEN I LANDED.

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