A SMALL AIRCRAFT DEVELOPED AN ALTERNATOR PROBLEM REQUIRING THAT ELECTRONIC NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT BE SECURED. SUBSEQUENTLY THE AIRCRAFT ENTERED CLASS D AIRSPACE IN THE COMPLEX PHX CLASS B AREA.

Date: 2008-10 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; Low Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|airspace-violation-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

A SMALL AIRCRAFT DEVELOPED AN ALTERNATOR PROBLEM REQUIRING THAT ELECTRONIC NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT BE SECURED. SUBSEQUENTLY THE AIRCRAFT ENTERED CLASS D AIRSPACE IN THE COMPLEX PHX CLASS B AREA.

Narrative

I WAS INBOUND ON A LONG XCOUNTRY FLT FROM CALIFORNIA TO FALCON FIELD IN MESA; AZ. AS I DEPARTED MY CHK POINT AT CASA GRANDE ARPT; MY ALTERNATOR WENT 'OFF-LINE;' AND HAD TO BE RESET. IT APPEARED TO BE SUCCESSFUL; AND I CONTINUED TOWARDS MY DEST. WITH A NEBOUND HDG TO AVOID THE CLASS B AIRSPACE OF PHOENIX; I DSNDED THROUGH 4000 FT TO 3000 FT WITH A COURSE OUTBOUND FROM CASA GRANDE ARPT; BTWN BOTH THE CLASS D AIRSPACE OF WILLIAMS GATEWAY; AND THE SMALL RESTR AIRSPACE TO THE E. I WAS UTILIZING BOTH GPS AND VOR NAV; AS WELL AS 'GND REFS' TO ASSURE ADEQUATE CLRNC FROM BOTH. JUST NE OF CASA GRANDE ARPT; MY ALTERNATOR WENT OFF-LINE AGAIN. AT THAT POINT; I REDUCED MY BATTERY LOAD; LEAVING ONLY MY XPONDER ON AS I CONTINUED NEBOUND UNTIL I COULD CLR THE WILLIAMS GATEWAY CLASS D AIRSPACE; FOR MY APCH TO FALCON FIELD. A QUICK ASSESSMENT OF THE ELECTRICAL SYS AND ITS MALFUNCTION; LED ME TO BELIEVE I WOULD HAVE ENOUGH BATTERY VOLTAGE TO TURN ON THE RADIO ONCE I WAS CLOSE TO FALCON ARPT TO GET THE ATIS AND MAKE MY CALL FOR LNDG CLRNC. WITHOUT THE USE OF NAVAIDS TO NAV AROUND THE WILLIAMS GATEWAY AIRSPACE; USING WHAT GND REFS I COULD; I MADE MY TURN NW. AS I APCHED THE AREA FROM THE E; I REALIZED I WAS STILL TOO FAR S OF MY VISUAL REF; AND WAS APCHING THE WILLIAMS GATEWAY ARPT; DIRECTLY AHEAD TO THE W. IMMEDIATELY I EXECUTED A L 180 DEG TURN AWAY FROM THE ARPT BACK TO THE E; HOWEVER BASED UPON MY ESTIMATION; I MAY HAVE ENCROACHED INTO THE CLASS D AIRSPACE OF WILLIAMS GATEWAY ARPT. STILL WITH NO NAV EQUIP; I ATTEMPTED TO WIDEN MY L TURN AROUND THE CLASS D AIRSPACE TO THE W; TURNED ON #1 COM RADIO; ESTIMATED MY POS TO BE APPROX 11 MI E OF FALCON; AND CALLED FOR LNDG CLRNC AT FALCON. THEY ADVISED THAT I WOULD NEED TO HEAD N TO GET CLR OF WILLIAMS GATEWAY AIRSPACE; THEN AFTER XING THE CANAL; TURN L (W) TO THE ARPT. I WAS GIVEN SUBSEQUENT LNDG CLRNC. IN SUM; I AM SUBMITTING THIS ACCOUNT TO RPT A POSSIBLE; UNINTENTIONAL; INFRINGEMENT INTO THE CLASS D AIRSPACE AT WILLIAMS GATEWAY ARPT; WHILE ATTEMPTING TO NAV WITH 'INOP' NAV EQUIP; AND A MALFUNCTIONING ALTERNATOR. THE ALTERNATOR MALFUNCTION WAS IDENTED; AND REPAIRED WITH NO FURTHER INCIDENT. I BELIEVE THAT THIS SITUATION ALTHOUGH COMPLICATED BY THE DISTRS OF BOTH LOSS OF THE ALTERNATOR; AND SUBSEQUENT SHUTDOWN TEMPORARY OF THE NON-ESSENTIAL ITEMS FOR THE DURATION OF THE FLT; COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED BY BETTER FAMILIARIZATION OF THE GND REFS SURROUNDING WILLIAMS GATEWAY AIRSPACE. THIS WOULD HAVE MADE IT EASIER TO DETERMINE WHEN I HAD CLRED THE CLASS D AIRSPACE FOR THE TURN TO FALCON FIELD. THE ADDED CLOSE PROX TO BOTH THE PHOENIX CLASS B AIRSPACE; AND THE SMALL BLOCK OF 'RESTR' AIRSPACE E OF GATEWAY BEING A 'CONTRIBUTING DISTR.'

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