AN UNAUTH ENTRY INTO A TFR SET UP AROUND A FOREST FIRE LOCATION DUE TO LACK OF INFO BEING AVAILABLE FROM MANY SOURCES.

Date: 2003-08 · Aircraft: Citation III; VI; VII (C650) · Phase: approach

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

Synopsis

AN UNAUTH ENTRY INTO A TFR SET UP AROUND A FOREST FIRE LOCATION DUE TO LACK OF INFO BEING AVAILABLE FROM MANY SOURCES.

Narrative

WE DEPARTED BOISE; ID; ON AN IFR FLT PLAN TO SALMON; ID; 138 NM NE. ENRTE; I RECEIVED THE WX FROM SMN AWOS AND RECEIVED AN ARPT ADVISORY FROM THE SALMON UNICOM. ZLC HAD CLRED US TO DSND TO 12000 FT; AT WHICH TIME WE RPTED SMN IN SIGHT AND WERE CLRED FOR A VISUAL APCH. WE CANCELED OUR IFR FLT PLAN AND BROADCAST ON CTAF OUR INTENTIONS TO LAND ON RWY 35 AT SMN. AS WE APCHED ON A L BASE LEG; WE REALIZED WE WERE TOO HIGH AND THEN BROADCASTED OUR INTENTIONS TO ENTER A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 17. AT ABOUT THIS SAME TIME; I NOTICED THAT THERE WERE SEVERAL FIRES BURNING ON THE MOUNTAIN-TOPS SE OF THE ARPT AND I COULD ALSO SEE THAT A SINGLE ENG ACFT WAS FLYING NEAR THE FIRES WELL BELOW US. WHEN WE WERE ON L BASE LEG FOR RWY 17; AN ACFT CAME ON THE FREQ AND SAID THAT WE HAD VIOLATED A TFR. AFTER WE LANDED; A GOV TRUCK CAME OVER TO US AND SHOWED US THE TFR COORDINATES AND SAID THEY WERE POSTED AT THE FBO AT SALMON. THE CAPT EXPLAINED THAT HE HAD JUST SPOKEN WITH FLT SVC IMMEDIATELY BEFORE OUR DEP FROM BOISE AND THE BRIEFER NEVER MENTIONED THE TFR IN THIS BRIEFING OR THE EARLIER ONE WHEN HE FILED HIS FLT PLANS. HE ALSO SAID THAT ZLC HAD NOT SAID ANYTHING; EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD CLRED US FOR AN APCH INTO SALMON. THE UNICOM OPERATOR ALSO DID NOT ADVISE US OF ANY UNUSUAL ACTIVITIES AT THE ARPT. HAVING NOT TALKED TO FLT SVC MYSELF; I CANNOT SAY FOR SURE WHAT THEY BRIEFED THE CAPT ON; BUT HAD HE BEEN BRIEFED ON THE TFR; HE SURELY WOULD HAVE MENTIONED IT TO ME -- EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER THE INCIDENT. THERE MUST BE A MORE POSITIVE WAY TO DISSEMINATE THE INFO ABOUT A TFR. WE DID ALL OF THE FOLLOWING AND STILL HAD NO CLUE IT EXISTED: 1) FULL BRIEFING FROM FSS AND FILED IFR FLT PLAN. 2) RECONNECTED FSS JUST PRIOR TO DEP. 3) CALLED SALMON ARPT LESS THAN 1 HR BEFORE ARR. 4) RECEIVED AN APCH CLRNC FROM ARTCC INTO SALMON ARPT. 5) CONTACTED UNICOM AS FAR OUT AS POSSIBLE FOR AN ADVISORY. 6) BROADCAST OUR INTENTIONS ON CTAF; WHICH AT SOME POINT; WAS MONITORED BY FIRE SUPPRESSION ACFT. WHEN WE DEPARTED SALMON; WE TOOK OFF TO THE N; AVOIDING THE TFR.

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