Violation of Class B and proximity to major airport

O

osaleh

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Jun 21, 2012
Messages
7
Display Name
omar
Hi everyone

couple of days ago, left a class D towered airport to a go to a non-towered airport close by, it was night and the rented plane had no GPS but i knew the way so i was confident. I had taken the same trip many times but not at night. Anyways, for some reason I got totally lost and ended up being very close to main runways of IAH (Bush Intercontinental) and ofcourse violated class B airspace. Once realized my mistake, i took evasive action, contacted the class D airport and told them i was lost and i needed to get out of the place i was in. i also turned to the opposite direction i was flying and after about 10 mins, the class D airport tower were able to locate me and directed me to airport. Once i landed i was asked to call intercontinental tower and i was informed that there will be investigation. The intercontinental guy told me no plane i was close to sounded alarm but that i did come close to some planes and i also was in the direct path of main landing runways. I have a clean record, low time, 135 hours. got my PPL in 2010. Anyone knows of somewhat similar situation? and what might happen?

Thx
 
First of all I have no idea what will come of this and will let the others on the board help you out. I just have 3 things to say


  • If you haven't done so, file an ASRA (http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/)
    • Must be within 10 days of the occurrence
    • Must be unintentional as yours appears to be
    • The FAA will waive or greatly reduce penalties and/or fines
  • Consider posting anonymously in the Lessons Learned section next time.
  • Most of all, learn from this. Perhaps consider a night x-country with a CFI to reinforce pilotage & DR at night. (I know cities are tricky at night)
 
yes i did file the NASA report. same night. Lessons learned, MANY.
 
If ATC files a Pilot Deviation report, you will be contacted by the FSDO as part of their investigation. While some folks may suggest hiring a lawyer and stonewalling the FAA, your account suggests they already know exactly who you are and what you did, so there's not much point in that path of action. Your best bet when contacted by the Inspector is probably to be honest and forthright about what happened, because your attitude during that interview is an important factor in how the Inspector proceeds. With a clean record and a positive, constructive attitude towards safety, it is likely you'll receive either remedial training with an FAA Safety Team Representative or perhaps a reexamination ride with an FAA Inspector.

While it's possible you could receive violation and a suspension of several weeks, with a clean record and a good attitude that isn't as likely. Also, having submitted a NASA ASRS report, any sanction such as a suspension should be waived, but if they pursue an enforcement action rather than one of the administrative remedies discussed above, the violation would remain on your record.

Another thing you can do in the interim which will help show that positive attitude is to get with a CFI now, go through what happened, and get some additonal training on navigating in that high density airspace. Preemptive action like that will help convince the investigatin Inspector that you recognize the problem and really want to fix it. You can discuss that with the Inspector when s/he calls. And be sure to mention that you filed that ASRS report.
 
No, no lawyer for me. I made a mistake and i told the person I talked to that I made the mistake and I filed the ASRS report. I will take extra training though. GOod idea thank you. Any idea how long they take before they call back or should i call them myself?
 
osaleh said:
No, no lawyer for me. I made a mistake and i told the person I talked to that I made the mistake and I filed the ASRS report. I will take extra training though. GOod idea thank you. Any idea how long they take before they call back or should i call them myself?
Click to expand...
Don't call them, they'll call you, probably a week or so after the event.
 
osaleh said:
Hi everyone

couple of days ago, left a class D towered airport to a go to a non-towered airport close by, it was night and the rented plane had no GPS but i knew the way so i was confident. I had taken the same trip many times but not at night. Anyways, for some reason I got totally lost and ended up being very close to main runways of IAH (Bush Intercontinental) and ofcourse violated class B airspace. Once realized my mistake, i took evasive action, contacted the class D airport and told them i was lost and i needed to get out of the place i was in. i also turned to the opposite direction i was flying and after about 10 mins, the class D airport tower were able to locate me and directed me to airport. Once i landed i was asked to call intercontinental tower and i was informed that there will be investigation. The intercontinental guy told me no plane i was close to sounded alarm but that i did come close to some planes and i also was in the direct path of main landing runways. I have a clean record, low time, 135 hours. got my PPL in 2010. Anyone knows of somewhat similar situation? and what might happen?

Thx
Click to expand...

What nav equipment did the plane have?
 
Agreed on the training. Find an instructor and write down a lesson plan that covers navigation and night flight that is thorough and open-ended enough the FAA can suggest additional things and make some progress on it before they call.

You need it anyway (sorry, true) and it can't hurt. Show appropriate remedial action is already started of your own volition.

Turn this negative into a positive and vow to never be lost again. Be open to whatever remedial training is required.

You sound like you have the right attitude, just realize that under different traffic circumstances you could have endangered the lives of a couple hundred people in an airliner. This is serious stuff. The kind of stuff where you could hear about yourself as the "scary small airplane pilot who wandered into busy airspace lost, and could have killed people" on tomorrow's nightly news.

The general public will not be understanding in today's scared-of-small-airplanes world. This is also the stuff of FAA PR people's nightmares.

The media gets involved, you may be in worse shape than we all think. FAA will need to feel comfortable they don't have to "make an example" out of you. Be willing to share your story of how you corrected your mistakes and trained hard with other pilots. How does public speaking sound? A safety seminar or two after you've been retrained? Do you know any FAASTeam CFIs and/or FAA Safety Counselors? Ask your CFI to get you in touch with them.

That all said, it sounds like you understand this is a big deal. Cooperate and be ready, willing, and able to jump through what may seem like hoops.

Really, they're not. You must know where you are at all times and doubly-so near airliner sized and serviced airports.

Learn also to avail oneself of the services available like Flight Following. The controllers wouldn't have let you get that close without warnings.

You didn't say exactly how close you got, and don't... there are people reading this who'll just add it to the case file. But it sounds too close to me. This forum is very public.

Since you've already posted in public. It may be wise to follow up here eventually with the full re-training story as a Safety advocate to your fellow pilots as time goes on. It's the moral high ground and the right thing to do.

First step is buckling down and finding the training gaps and filling them with a tough but fair CFI, whether the FAA requires it or not. It's your life and the lives of many others we're talking about here.

The old adage of making lemonade when life gives you lemons is definitely good advice. Let us know how it goes.
 
Morne said:
What nav equipment did the plane have?
Click to expand...

it had a GPS but was out for maintenance. It also had 1 com/nav radio. I could have dialed into a VOR but the situation I was in required that I pay attention outside and then get out of there ASAP. It also never occurred to me i was lost until i saw IAH. All that 5-10 mins of flight, i thought i was going to the proper airport.
 
If you were solo, have good attitude, = 2 hours of remedial training with CFI.
 
Orientation at night is a challenge. Invest in a good portable moving map that you can keep with you. I live under a Class B and fly it every day, but still keep my Nexus 7 tablet with Garmin Pilot in my pocket at all times and use it on just about every flight. For $200 in hardware and $50 subscription it's pretty cheap insurance against an inadvertent situation such as yours.

Good luck with the Feds. Attitude is huge. Sounds like you have that covered.
 
LDJones said:
Orientation at night is a challenge. Invest in a good portable moving map that you can keep with you. I live under a Class B and fly it every day, but still keep my Nexus 7 tablet with Garmin Pilot in my pocket at all times and use it on just about every flight. For $200 in hardware and $50 subscription it's pretty cheap insurance against an inadvertent situation such as yours.

Good luck with the Feds. Attitude is huge. Sounds like you have that covered.
Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

Get a Garmin.
 
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