Narrative:

Yesterday; I experienced firsthand the consequences of poor flight planning and overconfidence. I took off with the intention of flying to ZZZ; two other airports; and back to departure airport. I knew the weather was going to be marginal; so I was prepared to turn around and return at any moment. I completed a biennial the day before; and was intending to practice flying to keep current. Unfortunately; while preparing the arrival into ZZZ already; I committed the first infraction because ZZZ tower told me via radio to call a number. Knowing that something was wrong made me nervous. I decided to return to my departure airport and call it a day; but the weather had turned so bad that a direct route was not possible. I could see on the G1000 with nexrad where the precipitation was and it pushed me east. Potomac asked the FBO to relay the message that I should land immediately and wait for the agencies. But the weather had become so intense (thunderstorm and heavy rain; wind) that I decided to divert to ZZZ1.my immediate concern was to land safely and evaluate the situation from the ground. I was in constant communication with tower and I felt it would have been counterproductive to try and speak to potomac. I believe I stayed outside of airspace bravo the whole time. However; I violated dc sfra regulations and I was told in the air that police and secret service would be waiting for me on the ground. This increased my stress level significantly; and was probably not so helpful. I debriefed with the chief pilot at my flight school today and he said it would have been best to identify as an emergency on guard or potomac; so that they knew that I was diverting due to weather; and to have a direct line of communications.on my arrival; I was told by the local FBO to await interviews with police and secret service. I answered all their questions and acknowledged that I got disoriented and somewhat overwhelmed with the situation. I was comfortable with the G1000 but I now plan to use an ipad backup in the future; which also makes it easier to think through how the flight will proceed; which airspaces are touched etc. I have agreed with the flight school to do some additional training; especially around the airspace restrictions.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 pilot reported violating SFRA regulations during a weather deviation.

Narrative: Yesterday; I experienced firsthand the consequences of poor flight planning and overconfidence. I took off with the intention of flying to ZZZ; two other airports; and back to departure airport. I knew the weather was going to be marginal; so I was prepared to turn around and return at any moment. I completed a biennial the day before; and was intending to practice flying to keep current. Unfortunately; while preparing the arrival into ZZZ already; I committed the first infraction because ZZZ Tower told me via radio to call a number. Knowing that something was wrong made me nervous. I decided to return to my departure airport and call it a day; but the weather had turned so bad that a direct route was not possible. I could see on the G1000 with NEXRAD where the precipitation was and it pushed me east. Potomac asked the FBO to relay the message that I should land immediately and wait for the agencies. But the weather had become so intense (thunderstorm and heavy rain; wind) that I decided to divert to ZZZ1.My immediate concern was to land safely and evaluate the situation from the ground. I was in constant communication with Tower and I felt it would have been counterproductive to try and speak to Potomac. I believe I stayed outside of airspace bravo the whole time. However; I violated DC SFRA regulations and I was told in the air that Police and Secret Service would be waiting for me on the ground. This increased my stress level significantly; and was probably not so helpful. I debriefed with the Chief Pilot at my flight school today and he said it would have been best to identify as an emergency on guard or Potomac; so that they knew that I was diverting due to weather; and to have a direct line of communications.On my arrival; I was told by the local FBO to await interviews with Police and Secret Service. I answered all their questions and acknowledged that I got disoriented and somewhat overwhelmed with the situation. I was comfortable with the G1000 but I now plan to use an iPad backup in the future; which also makes it easier to think through how the flight will proceed; which airspaces are touched etc. I have agreed with the flight school to do some additional training; especially around the airspace restrictions.

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.