Narrative:

I am a first officer for a part 135 tour operator at the grand canyon. As the first officer (first officer); we were operating a flight through the special flight rules area on the route 'blue direct north.' as we passed the reporting point 'colorado river' I was given instructions by the captain to deviate north of course for the purpose of him wanting to point out some landmarks. We proceeded to follow the colorado river north easterly. After a short distance away from the blue direct north route; I questioned the captain as to how far we were going; and if it was necessary. He indicated that it wasn't very far and he would tell me where to fly. I did not feel comfortable with his reasoning as I knew that we were exceeding the route dimensions set in the special flight rules area and reminded him of such. During this deviation; the flight controls were exchanged on multiple occasions as the captain would point out prominent land features. When I was in control of the airplane; I would start a course back towards the blue direct north and voice that we should return to our route; but the controls would be exchanged again with the captain changing our course. As we continued north easterly we proceeded to enter the southernmost extension of the toroweap/shinumo flight free zone. This was not intentional on my behalf as I had made multiple efforts prior to entering the flight free zone to return to a south heading and rejoin the blue direct north route. I also voiced my opinion and desire to discontinue our deviation. This was not a direct safety concern and did not warrant me to forcefully take control of the airplane and return to our designed route. I do not believe there was anything else I could do at the time to avoid entering the flight free zone. Once on the ground; I proceeded to discuss the matter with our director of operations and chief pilot.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: First Officer flying a Grand Canyon tour was directed by Captain to deviate off the Special Flight Rules route and enter a Flight Free Zone.

Narrative: I am a First Officer for a part 135 tour operator at the Grand Canyon. As the FO (First Officer); we were operating a flight through the Special Flight Rules Area on the route 'Blue Direct North.' As we passed the reporting point 'Colorado River' I was given instructions by the Captain to deviate north of course for the purpose of him wanting to point out some landmarks. We proceeded to follow the Colorado River north easterly. After a short distance away from the Blue Direct North route; I questioned the Captain as to how far we were going; and if it was necessary. He indicated that it wasn't very far and he would tell me where to fly. I did not feel comfortable with his reasoning as I knew that we were exceeding the route dimensions set in the Special Flight Rules Area and reminded him of such. During this deviation; the flight controls were exchanged on multiple occasions as the Captain would point out prominent land features. When I was in control of the airplane; I would start a course back towards the Blue Direct North and voice that we should return to our route; but the controls would be exchanged again with the Captain changing our course. As we continued north easterly we proceeded to enter the southernmost extension of the Toroweap/Shinumo Flight Free Zone. This was not intentional on my behalf as I had made multiple efforts prior to entering the Flight Free Zone to return to a south heading and rejoin the Blue Direct North route. I also voiced my opinion and desire to discontinue our deviation. This was not a direct safety concern and did not warrant me to forcefully take control of the airplane and return to our designed route. I do not believe there was anything else I could do at the time to avoid entering the Flight Free Zone. Once on the ground; I proceeded to discuss the matter with our Director of Operations and Chief Pilot.

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.