PIPER PA28 PLT INADVERTENTLY FLIES THROUGH PROHIBITED AIRSPACE NOT KNOWING THAT THE AIRSPACE HAD BEEN TEMPORALLY EXPANDED.

Date: 2002-03 · Aircraft: PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior · Phase: cruise

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

Synopsis

PIPER PA28 PLT INADVERTENTLY FLIES THROUGH PROHIBITED AIRSPACE NOT KNOWING THAT THE AIRSPACE HAD BEEN TEMPORALLY EXPANDED.

Narrative

I PLANNED A 2 LEG FLT HOME FROM ZZZ TO ZZZ1. I USED THE COMMERCIAL LOW ALT ENRTE CHARTS; SECTIONALS AND WAC. THIS WAS TO BE THE RETURN TRIP OF THE 1ST REAL DISTANCE CROSS COUNTRY FLT; FOR THIS LOW TIME PRIVATE PLT. INSTEAD OF CALLING THE WX BRIEF NUMBER; I USED THE ON LINE DUATS SERVICE. THE SECOND LEG OF THE FLT WAS IN PART; USING V39 AIRWAY INCLUDING FROM MRB VOR TO LRP VOR. I NOTED THE R-4009 AIRSPACE N OF V39 AND IT SHOWS THE AIRWAY CLEARS THAT AIRSPACE ON ALL CHARTS. AT OR ABOUT XA00 HRS TO XA41 HRS I WAS FLYING AT 5500 FT MSL (500 FT ABOVE THE LISTED P40) ON THE NE RTE OF V39 FROM MRB TO LRP. APCHING WHAT I BELIEVED TO BE A CLR AIRWAY AROUND WHAT I THOUGHT WAS R-4009 (S E OF AND 500 FT ABOVE THE CHARTED P40 CEILING).WHILE CLOSING IN THE AREA I ALSO USED THE GPS TO FLY EVEN FURTHER TO THE S E OF V39 BY MORE THAN A MILE; THINKING I WAS CLRING THE R-4009 AREA BY A WIDE MARGIN OF SPACE. I CONTINUED THE FLT HOME TO ZZZ1. UPON LNDG; THE GND CTLR RADIOED ME TO COPY A PHONE NUMBER AND CALL AS SOON AS ABLE. WHILE THE PLANE WAS BEING FUELED I MADE THAT CALL FROM THE FBO. I WAS GIVE ANOTHER NUMBER TO CALL. I HAD TO WAIT TO GET HOME TO MAKE THE LONG DISTANCE CALL. I SPOKE WITH A SPOKESMAN WHO EXPLAINED THAT THEY BELIEVED I HAD VIOLATED AIRSPACE AND TOOK MY INFO. WHEN I STATED THAT I BELIEVED I WAS CLR OF THE AIRSPACE; HE STATED THAT THE AREA WAS EXPANDED TO A 12 MILE RADIUS BY NOTAM. IN HIND SIGHT I SHOULD OF CALLED THE WX BRIEF NUMBER IN ADDITION TO USING THE ON LINE DUATS. I TRIED TO READ ALL THE ITEMS PRINTED FROM DUATS; BUT THERE WAS MORE THAN 35 PAGES OF INFO. LOOKING OVER THE NOTAMS AFTER I FOUND THE ONE FOR THAT AREA. THE NOTAM DID NOT PLAINLY STATE THAT THE P40 AREA OR THE R-4009 AREA OR THE AREA OF V39 WAS AFFECTED WAS NOW AN EXTENDED TFR FOR AN 8 MILE RADIUS FROM THE CENTER OF R-4009/P40. I WAS ONLY GIVEN IN LAT AND LONGITUDE. THE WORDING LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS ALL IN THE WASHINGTON CLASS B AIRSPACE OF WHICH I WAS GOING TO BE WELL N W OF. ANOTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS NOT TO HAVE USED FLT FOLLOWING. I HAD SLIGHT INTRODUCTION WITH FLIGHT FOLLOWING AND PROCS DURING TRAINING OVER TWO YEARS AGO. THUS MY RELUCTANCE TO USE THE SYSTEM AND PLANNED THE FLIGHT ABOVE AND AROUND CTRL/RESTR AIRSPACE. MY FLTS UP TO THIS POINT HAD BEEN LCL WITHIN A 100 MILES. ALSO; I DID NOT FILE A VFR FLT PLAN DUE THE GREAT WX. IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE THE 09/TUE/01 EVENT THAT THE R-4009/P40 AREA SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE PERMANENT AND DISPLAYED ON ALL CHARTS. THE V39 AIRWAY SHOULD HAVE BEEN MODIFIED AND PLACE IN AN AREA THAT IS OUTSIDE OF PROHIBITED AIRSPACE.

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