Narrative:

Having made the trip from fqd to cre several times I planned to fly south of charlotte airspace heading from fqd to bubba intersection then to flo then cre. I had requested and received flight following from greer approach and was squawking a discreet transponder code. After a while with greer I asked if gamecock was active. Greer asked what my destination was and I advised cre. After a few seconds he said 'you are cleared direct to your destination.' I assumed that meant I was cleared through class B as I knew I was near the southwest section. I turned direct to cre. After a few minutes I was advised to contact charlotte approach on a new frequency. I contacted charlotte and advised I was with them at 5;500 ft. This was acknowledged and I was given a current altimeter setting. After a few minutes I was told that there was sky diving over catawba airport from 11;500 ft. I acknowledged and advised I would be through the area as soon as possible. After a minute or two charlotte advised that I was in class B airspace and needed to verify I had clearance before entering in the future. I responded by indicating I had been cleared direct to destination and would certainly do as she requested in the future. She provided clearance and we proceeded to our destination. The 'cleared direct' terminology made me assume I had been cleared into class B as I was talking to ATC and was under radar coverage. I knew where I was and had planned to stay outside the area but assumed greer had worked the transition. On the return trip I just filed IFR to avoid any problems and will be doing this in the future as well.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Pilot was cleared direct to destination and thought he had clearance through Class Bravo airspace.

Narrative: Having made the trip from FQD to CRE several times I planned to fly south of Charlotte airspace heading from FQD to Bubba intersection then to FLO then CRE. I had requested and received flight following from Greer Approach and was squawking a discreet transponder code. After a while with Greer I asked if Gamecock was active. Greer asked what my destination was and I advised CRE. After a few seconds he said 'you are cleared direct to your destination.' I assumed that meant I was cleared through Class B as I knew I was near the southwest section. I turned direct to CRE. After a few minutes I was advised to contact Charlotte Approach on a new frequency. I contacted Charlotte and advised I was with them at 5;500 FT. This was acknowledged and I was given a current altimeter setting. After a few minutes I was told that there was sky diving over Catawba Airport from 11;500 FT. I acknowledged and advised I would be through the area ASAP. After a minute or two Charlotte advised that I was in Class B airspace and needed to verify I had clearance before entering in the future. I responded by indicating I had been cleared direct to destination and would certainly do as she requested in the future. She provided clearance and we proceeded to our destination. The 'cleared direct' terminology made me assume I had been cleared into Class B as I was talking to ATC and was under radar coverage. I knew where I was and had planned to stay outside the area but assumed Greer had worked the transition. On the return trip I just filed IFR to avoid any problems and will be doing this in the future as well.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.