37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Attributes | |
ACN | 1370659 |
Time | |
Date | 201607 |
Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
Place | |
Locale Reference | PCT.TRACON |
State Reference | VA |
Environment | |
Flight Conditions | VMC |
Light | Daylight |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | Cirrus Aircraft Undifferentiated |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
Flight Phase | Climb |
Route In Use | Direct |
Flight Plan | DVFR |
Component | |
Aircraft Component | Air/Ground Communication |
Person 1 | |
Function | Single Pilot |
Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private |
Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 330 Flight Crew Type 250 |
Events | |
Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
I departed this morning on an sfra flight plan and my intention was to maintain 1400 (until clear of bravo airspace) which would keep me clear of the frz (flight restricted zone) and all bravo airspace. At approximately 1200 feet in my climb my dog who had been harnessed in the back seat leapt into the front passenger seat. In doing so; he hit the dash somehow managing to clear my flight plan out of my garmin 430; he pulled my gdl 39 out of the cigarette lighter (my backup nav); he knocked my tablet (also my backup nav) onto the passenger side floor and he ripped the microphone port of my headset out at the connector (I didn't initially realize that had happened and I could still hear in the radio because the listening port was still plugged in). In trying to keep my dog off of the controls and flipping the autopilot off to hand fly; I inadvertently made a climbing turn to 2200 feet and may have broken into class B airspace. Upon recognizing this I immediately descended and made my initial radio call to potomac. At the time I thought they had acknowledged my call but in retrospect I don't think they did. A few minutes later as I was still trying to re-trim the airplane potomac was trying to reach me and it was clear to me they couldn't hear me. It was at this point that I realized my mic port had been unplugged and the cord was now wrapped around my 50lb dog who was dead weight on top of it. I finally freed the cord and made contact with potomac. In doing so; my concentration was broken and when I looked at my position I was either in or very close to violating the frz. I immediately turned around and again made contact with potomac. At this point forward I stayed clear of bravo and the frz.take home points for me:1. Harness my dog better and make sure there is no chance he can get free. I may even crate him on future flights so there is no chance that he gets free and jumps forward.2. This serves as a good reminder to fly the plane first and communicate 2nd. While communication in the sfra is critical flying the plane is more critical. I should have maintained my awareness first and after I was comfortable with my position and safety of the aircraft then addressed the radio/headset issue. This likely would have delayed communication by a minute or two but probably would have been a better outcome.3. Regardless of how well I know an airspace I should never rely entirely on GPS which can fail and I need to maintain location awareness even when multiple options fail.4. When my dog jumped forward I probably should have aborted the flight; returned to [the departure airport] reset and started over. I hesitated doing so because doing so would violate sfra procedures.5. Don't get distracted. I intend to ask my flight instructor to do some flights with me to rebuild my ability to deal with situations that occur at horribly inopportune times.in sum; while I don't take this possible violation lightly I'm grateful that no one was hurt and look at it as a learning opportunity to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Cirrus pilot reported distraction and equipment problems when his dog jumped into the front seat and disturbed the navigation and communication systems.
Narrative: I departed this morning on an SFRA flight plan and my intention was to maintain 1400 (until clear of Bravo airspace) which would keep me clear of the FRZ (Flight Restricted Zone) and all bravo airspace. At approximately 1200 feet in my climb my dog who had been harnessed in the back seat leapt into the front passenger seat. In doing so; he hit the dash somehow managing to clear my flight plan out of my Garmin 430; he pulled my GDL 39 out of the cigarette lighter (my backup nav); he knocked my tablet (also my backup nav) onto the passenger side floor and he ripped the microphone port of my headset out at the connector (I didn't initially realize that had happened and I could still hear in the radio because the listening port was still plugged in). In trying to keep my dog off of the controls and flipping the autopilot off to hand fly; I inadvertently made a climbing turn to 2200 feet and may have broken into class B airspace. Upon recognizing this I immediately descended and made my initial radio call to Potomac. At the time I thought they had acknowledged my call but in retrospect I don't think they did. A few minutes later as I was still trying to re-trim the airplane Potomac was trying to reach me and it was clear to me they couldn't hear me. It was at this point that I realized my mic port had been unplugged and the cord was now wrapped around my 50lb dog who was dead weight on top of it. I finally freed the cord and made contact with Potomac. In doing so; my concentration was broken and when I looked at my position I was either in or VERY close to violating the FRZ. I immediately turned around and again made contact with Potomac. At this point forward I stayed clear of Bravo and the FRZ.Take Home Points for Me:1. Harness my dog better and make sure there is no chance he can get free. I may even crate him on future flights so there is no chance that he gets free and jumps forward.2. This serves as a good reminder to fly the plane first and communicate 2nd. While communication in the SFRA is critical flying the plane is more critical. I should have maintained my awareness first and after I was comfortable with my position and safety of the aircraft then addressed the radio/headset issue. This likely would have delayed communication by a minute or two but probably would have been a better outcome.3. Regardless of how well I know an airspace I should never rely entirely on GPS which can fail and I need to maintain location awareness even when multiple options fail.4. When my dog jumped forward I probably should have aborted the flight; returned to [the departure airport] reset and started over. I hesitated doing so because doing so would violate SFRA procedures.5. Don't get distracted. I intend to ask my flight instructor to do some flights with me to rebuild my ability to deal with situations that occur at horribly inopportune times.In sum; while I don't take this possible violation lightly I'm grateful that no one was hurt and look at it as a learning opportunity to make sure it doesn't happen again.
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.