Single engine cessna pilot experiences a GPS failure on a flight to sfz. After circling for a few mi...

Narrative:

In the afternoon; I took off [onboard a] cessna 152 and intended to fly to sfz. After takeoff for about 5 minutes; the GPS connection failed. I tried several times to reset the GPS but it did not help. Then I started to circle the aircraft and the GPS went back on for another 3 minutes. After I realized that the GPS was ok again; I made up my mind to fly to sfz. While on route; the GPS failed again until I accidentally landed at pvd; which is a class C airport. Even after I landed; I still believed that I landed at sfz. Contributing factors; flying the aircraft without flight watch; which is important in navigating the flight. I reset the GPS but it did not help.perceptions; judgments; decisions: at first I circled the aircraft; which was [the] right decision and performance; but I did not try to fly back to the based airport; which can prevent the event from happening. So bad decision based on GPS failure situation.I believe that in the future days; if the GPS fails again; I should first try contacting flight watch service and if necessary fly back to the based airport or closest airport instead of 'just go'.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Single engine Cessna pilot experiences a GPS failure on a flight to SFZ. After circling for a few minutes the GPS begins to function again and the flight is continued with a second failure occurring closer to SFZ. PVD airport is mistaken for SFZ and a landing ensues without contacting the Tower.

Narrative: In the afternoon; I took off [onboard a] Cessna 152 and intended to fly to SFZ. After takeoff for about 5 minutes; the GPS connection failed. I tried several times to reset the GPS but it did not help. Then I started to circle the aircraft and the GPS went back on for another 3 minutes. After I realized that the GPS was OK again; I made up my mind to fly to SFZ. While on route; the GPS failed again until I accidentally landed at PVD; which is a Class C airport. Even after I landed; I still believed that I landed at SFZ. Contributing factors; flying the aircraft without flight watch; which is important in navigating the flight. I reset the GPS but it did not help.Perceptions; judgments; decisions: at first I circled the aircraft; which was [the] right decision and performance; but I did not try to fly back to the based airport; which can prevent the event from happening. So bad decision based on GPS failure situation.I believe that in the future days; if the GPS fails again; I should first try contacting flight watch service and if necessary fly back to the based airport or closest airport instead of 'just go'.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1266726
Time
Date	201505
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	PVD.Airport
State Reference	RI
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 152
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	GPS & Other Satellite Navigation
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 6.8 Flight Crew Total 110 Flight Crew Type 80
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Landing Without Clearance

Single engine cessna pilot experiences a GPS failure on a flight to sfz. After circling for a few minutes the GPS begins to function again and the flight is continued with a second failure occurring closer to sfz. Pvd airport is mistaken for sfz and a landing ensues without contacting the tower.