ChrisK
En-Route
Flew up to visit the family this weekend. Was my first overnight trip, so this was a small but notable experience booster. As some may recall, visiting my family involves flying over the Lake Erie islands between Ohio and Ontario, and descending over Lake St. Clair to land at 76G. Because of the Canadian overflight, I'm required to be on a flight plan and on flight following, but the route I take keeps me clear of restricted and - once I duck under CLE - Class B airspace.
As soon as I landed, I taxied over to the pumps, shut off my engine, and called FSS. Closed my flight plan with what I thought was no issue, though in retrospect the briefer may have seemed a bit - distracted? I texted my ride, put my phone back in my pocket, and proceeded to fuel and secure the aircraft.
About an hour later I'm in the car with my stepfather and his phone rang. Of course, it was flight service looking for me (I listed his mobile as an alternate contact on my flight plan). He handed me the phone. I said that I had called to close as soon as I landed and was told "we have no record of that" and "we'll call off search and rescue for your Canada overflight" (as recommended, I put that in the remarks section). I pulled my phone out of my pocket and noticed that they tried me twice and that the ringer was off.
Of course, I'm willing to scratch this up to some sort of human error, though I thought the briefer may have been more than a little snarky. I thought that it was strange that the briefer indicated that they had called search and rescue prior to calling either the manned airport (which could see my tail number clearly from the FBO, not to mention that I purchased fuel), or at least my alternate contact.
Shy of getting a receipt or a confirmation number (ha!) when closing my flight plan, I don't think there is anything else I could have done. Since I fly an awful lot not on a flight plan, this was the first time I got that sort of call. I have to put "arm my phone" on my secure aircraft checklist though.
As soon as I landed, I taxied over to the pumps, shut off my engine, and called FSS. Closed my flight plan with what I thought was no issue, though in retrospect the briefer may have seemed a bit - distracted? I texted my ride, put my phone back in my pocket, and proceeded to fuel and secure the aircraft.
About an hour later I'm in the car with my stepfather and his phone rang. Of course, it was flight service looking for me (I listed his mobile as an alternate contact on my flight plan). He handed me the phone. I said that I had called to close as soon as I landed and was told "we have no record of that" and "we'll call off search and rescue for your Canada overflight" (as recommended, I put that in the remarks section). I pulled my phone out of my pocket and noticed that they tried me twice and that the ringer was off.
Of course, I'm willing to scratch this up to some sort of human error, though I thought the briefer may have been more than a little snarky. I thought that it was strange that the briefer indicated that they had called search and rescue prior to calling either the manned airport (which could see my tail number clearly from the FBO, not to mention that I purchased fuel), or at least my alternate contact.
Shy of getting a receipt or a confirmation number (ha!) when closing my flight plan, I don't think there is anything else I could have done. Since I fly an awful lot not on a flight plan, this was the first time I got that sort of call. I have to put "arm my phone" on my secure aircraft checklist though.
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