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|
Attributes | |
ACN | 1366344 |
Time | |
Date | 201606 |
Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
Place | |
Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
State Reference | US |
Environment | |
Flight Conditions | VMC |
Light | Night |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
Flight Phase | Cruise |
Route In Use | Direct |
Flight Plan | None |
Person 1 | |
Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Private |
Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 1050 Flight Crew Type 900 |
Events | |
Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
Upon taking off from ZZZ1; which had reverted to class G airspace due to the tower being closed for the night; I contacted approach control on and requested flight following to ZZZ. I was assigned a discreet transponder code and proceeded directly towards ZZZ. En route; I picked up the ZZZ ATIS on a second radio and never stopped monitoring approach on my primary radio. I fly in this airspace frequently with ZZZ probably being the second most frequently used airport after my home base. I however do not frequently fly the leg of ZZZ1 to ZZZ; or approach ZZZ from the northwest. The ATIS at ZZZ usually notes whether or not [a local] heliport is active. This evening the ATIS made no mention of the class D at [the heliport] being active. The approach frequency sounded a little busier than usual and as I proceeded to approach ZZZ I jumped on a lull in radio traffic to ask if approach wanted me to switch over to tower. The controller immediately advised me to squawk 1200 and terminated services. When I switched over to tower; the tower controller asked if I was the aircraft that had already entered his class D airspace. I advised him that approach had dropped me only moments beforehand and did so after I had already entered his airspace. He asked if I had been cleared into [the] heliport's adjacent airspace. I told him that I thought the ATIS omission of [the heliport's] status meant that the airspace was inactive. He reviewed the ATIS tape and concurred that the status was not playing back on the recorded loop due to a technical problem. I believe the approach controller may have been too busy to monitor my movements and should have dropped me earlier. My aircraft was never in conflict with any other aircraft and I don't believe anyone was ever in any danger. I believe this was a confluence of events and errors; including on my part; that led to an inadvertent airspace incursion. I should have made sure that the heliport was 'cold' and contacted approach earlier about my need to contact tower.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Piper PA-28 pilot reported two airspace incursions using flight following due to the lack of a timely ATC handoff; and an ATIS information problem.
Narrative: Upon taking off from ZZZ1; which had reverted to class G airspace due to the tower being closed for the night; I contacted Approach Control on and requested flight following to ZZZ. I was assigned a discreet transponder code and proceeded directly towards ZZZ. En route; I picked up the ZZZ ATIS on a second radio and never stopped monitoring Approach on my primary radio. I fly in this airspace frequently with ZZZ probably being the second most frequently used airport after my home base. I however do not frequently fly the leg of ZZZ1 to ZZZ; or approach ZZZ from the Northwest. The ATIS at ZZZ usually notes whether or not [a local] Heliport is active. This evening the ATIS made no mention of the class D at [the heliport] being active. The Approach frequency sounded a little busier than usual and as I proceeded to approach ZZZ I jumped on a lull in radio traffic to ask if Approach wanted me to switch over to Tower. The controller immediately advised me to squawk 1200 and terminated services. When I switched over to Tower; the tower controller asked if I was the aircraft that had already entered his class D airspace. I advised him that Approach had dropped me only moments beforehand and did so after I had already entered his airspace. He asked if I had been cleared into [the] Heliport's adjacent airspace. I told him that I thought the ATIS omission of [the heliport's] status meant that the airspace was inactive. He reviewed the ATIS tape and concurred that the status was not playing back on the recorded loop due to a technical problem. I believe the approach controller may have been too busy to monitor my movements and should have dropped me earlier. My aircraft was never in conflict with any other aircraft and I don't believe anyone was ever in any danger. I believe this was a confluence of events and errors; including on my part; that led to an inadvertent airspace incursion. I should have made sure that the Heliport was 'cold' and contacted Approach earlier about my need to contact Tower.
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.