2003-11 · NASA ASRS report 598246
ON VFR PLEASURE XCOUNTRY PLT OF R44 HELI INADVERTENTLY ENTERS TFR AND IS INTERCEPTED BY AN UNSPECIFIED MIL ACFT.
THIS PROB BEGAN WHEN 3 FAMILY MEMBERS AND I DECIDED LATE FRIDAY EVENING TO TAKE A 2-DAY WEEKEND TRIP. I AROSE SATURDAY MORNING EARLY AND PLANNED THE XCOUNTRY TRIP WITH AN ONLINE FLT PLANNING SVC. WX WAS REVIEWED AND VERIFIED USING AN ONLINE SVC AND EVERYTHING LOOKED GREAT. I PULLED UP NOTAMS; TFR'S AND AS WELL HAD BEEN NOTIFIED EARLIER BY EMAIL OF THE WEEKLY TFR'S. EVERYTHING LOOKED TO BE A GO WITH NO ISSUES OR FACTORS OTHER THAN THE LONG STANDING TFR AT THE PWR PLANT N OF OUR RTE THROUGH PINE BLUFF; AR; THAT WAS NOTED AND WE WOULD NAV S SO AS TO NOT BE A FACTOR. MY MISTAKE WAS NOT CALLING FLT SVC. I WAS IN SOMEWHAT OF A HURRY TO GET GOING AND I ASSUMED MY ONLINE RESEARCH WAS GOOD ENOUGH. HOWEVER; ENRTE AT 1500 FT MSL APPROX 20 MI S OF MEMPHIS; A MIL ACFT ARRIVED IN OUR VICINITY. I FIRST THOUGHT HE WAS ON A TRAINING RUN AS WE WERE JUST N OF THE COLUMBUS 3 MOA. HE CONTINUED TO ATTEMPT TO GET MY ATTN AND I SOON REALIZED WE WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE. IN MY REVIEW OF THE PROB THIS EVENING AFTER MY ARR BACK HOME I NOW REALIZE HE WAS FOLLOWING INFLT INTERCEPT PROCS AND ATTEMPTING TO DIVERT ME AWAY AND OUT OF THE AREA. I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THIS AND AT THAT TIME NOT SURE WHAT TO DO. I EXERCISED WHAT I THOUGHT WAS MY BEST OPTION AT THE TIME AND FOUND A CONSTRUCTION CLRING AND LANDED THE ACFT TO REGROUP. MY DECISION AT THAT TIME; WHICH I EXECUTED WAS TO CONTACT MEMPHIS APCH AND SORT THINGS OUT. THE TFR INFRACTION WAS BROUGHT TO MY ATTN AND CLRNC GIVEN TO CONTINUE FLT TO OUR PLANNED REFUELING STOP AT WHITEHURST (M08). APCH; AS WELL HAD GIVEN ME THEIR PHONE NUMBER SO I COULD CALL UPON ARR. AFTER TALKING WITH APCH BY PHONE AND TAKING SOME TIME TO CALM DOWN AND REALIZE WHAT TROUBLE I HAD CAUSED I HAD NO OTHER OPTIONS BUT TO LEARN FROM THE HARD LESSON AT HAND AND CONTINUE ON TO OUR DEST. THE PROB AND MY DOWNFALL IS OBVIOUS. A SIMPLE PHONE CALL SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE AND WOULD HAVE AVOIDED THE PROB. I ONLY THOUGHT I HAD COVERED ALL THE BASES IN ORDER TO AVOID THE PROB. MY RETURN FLT HOME TODAY WAS SAFE AND UNEVENTFUL. IT ALL BEGAN WITH THE SAME EFFORTS AND PLANNING ALONG WITH A CALL TO FLT SVC BEFORE DEP.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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