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A student pilot and his ground based flight instructor reported a first solo flight that resulted in the student becoming disoriented and committing an airspace violation.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1326851 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201601 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | IND.Airport |
| State Reference | IN |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Student |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 18 Flight Crew Total 36 Flight Crew Type 36 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Instructor |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50 Flight Crew Total 745 Flight Crew Type 730 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Track / Heading All Types |
Narrative:
During my first solo cross country flight I became disoriented with my position on the return leg and continued on a pattern to the east following I-70 and realized after traveling for some time that I had passed terre haute. When I realized this; I began preparations to head back west towards terre haute but realized that I had inadvertently entered indianapolis airspace when I saw the airport in site and immediately turned back to the west asking hulman approach for a squawk code and assistance back to [my intended airport]. Visibility was very poor on the ground and I was navigating only with a sectional map. I assigned incorrect landmarks due to the poor visibility and thought during the flight that I was much further to the west than I actually was. I have reviewed this incident with my instructor in detail and the key training items were noted to prevent a recurrence:-always maintain radio contact for flight following throughout the flight until your airport destinations are in site.-do not rely solely on towns or cities as your landmarks but also use things like rail road tracks; towers; and waterways and more unique features of a town/city to determine what city/town you are near.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A student pilot and his ground based flight instructor reported a first solo flight that resulted in the student becoming disoriented and committing an airspace violation.
Narrative: During my first solo cross country flight I became disoriented with my position on the return leg and continued on a pattern to the east following I-70 and realized after traveling for some time that I had passed Terre Haute. When I realized this; I began preparations to head back west towards Terre Haute but realized that I had inadvertently entered Indianapolis airspace when I saw the airport in site and immediately turned back to the west asking Hulman Approach for a squawk code and assistance back to [my intended airport]. Visibility was very poor on the ground and I was navigating only with a sectional map. I assigned incorrect landmarks due to the poor visibility and thought during the flight that I was much further to the West than I actually was. I have reviewed this incident with my instructor in detail and the key training items were noted to prevent a recurrence:-Always maintain radio contact for flight following throughout the flight until your airport destinations are in site.-Do not rely solely on towns or cities as your landmarks but also use things like rail road tracks; towers; and waterways and more unique features of a town/city to determine what city/town you are near.
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.