A C182 PLT VIOLATED SUA INVOLVING A MIL INSTALLATION.

Date: 2002-02 · Aircraft: Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: airspace-violation-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-security-breach-concerns

Synopsis

A C182 PLT VIOLATED SUA INVOLVING A MIL INSTALLATION.

Narrative

ON FEB/THU/02; I MADE A BUSINESS FLT TO SEE A CLIENT IN ZZZ. SINCE I HAD PURCHASED MY ACFT ONLY 3 WKS EARLIER; I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT AVOIDING THE CTLED AIRSPACE AROUND ZZZ1 THAT WAS INCREASED TO 10 NM AFTER SEP/TUE/01. MY ACFT IS EQUIPPED WITH AUTOPLT AND ALTHOUGH NEW TO ME; I THOUGHT I COULD OPERATE IT PROPERLY. ON THE TRIP TO ZZZ FROM MY HOME BASE AT ZZZ2; I FILED VFR AND PURPOSELY GAVE ZZZ1 A WIDE BERTH BY FLYING A RTE FROM ZZZ3 TO ZZZ4 AND THEN TO ZZZ. THIS ALSO ALLOWED ME TO TEST THE AUTOPLT AND CONFIRM THAT I COULD OPERATE IT. AS EVERYTHING WENT FINE; ON THE RETURN LEG; I INTENDED TO SIMPLY REPEAT MY RTE IN REVERSE FROM ZZZ TO ZZZ4 TO ZZZ2. UPON LEAVING ZZZ; I ENGAGED THE AUTOPLT WHICH IS COUPLED TO LORAN WITH ZZZ4 INDICATED. I OBSERVED MY TIME INFLT FROM ZZZ THAT AT THE POINT I SHOULD BE ARRIVING AT ZZZ4 I WASN'T THERE. WHEN I CROSSED THE LAKE AND DID NOT SEE THE DAM; I BELIEVED MY POS WAS E OF ZZZ4. I DISENGAGED THE AUTOPLT AND TURNED W FOR APPROX 5 MINS UNTIL I SAW WHAT I THOUGHT WAS ZZZ4. I ADJUSTED THE SETTING ON THE LORAN TO ZZZ3 AND ENGAGED THE AUTOPLT WHICH TURNED ME TO A PATH THAT UNEXPECTEDLY TOOK ME TOWARD ZZZ1. ALTHOUGH I COULD SEE THE FIELD; I DID NOT RECOGNIZE IT UNTIL APPROX 5 MI FROM IT. I HAD COM #2 SET TO 121.5 ON THE CABIN SPEAKER AND IMMEDIATELY RESPONDED TO ZZZ1 CALL WHEN I HEARD IT AS I WAS TURNING AWAY FROM THEM. ZZZ1 ASKED FOR MY TAIL NUMBER; NAME; ADDRESS AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER; WHICH I IMMEDIATELY PROVIDED. THEY GAVE ME A SQUAWK CODE; FREQ AND DIRECTED ME TOWARD ZZZ3 AS I HAD DISENGAGED THE AUTOPLT. I THINK I'VE LEARNED NEVER TRUST EQUIP UNTIL YOU BECOME THOROUGHLY FAMILIAR WITH IT.

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