Narrative:

2/sun/91 took friend flying smo to palomar. Coast approach notified me they were having difficulty receiving altitude readout from my transponder. On trip back to smo, coast approach again confirmed nonfunctioning transponder, and reminded me that therefore flight through special flight rules corridor over lax is illegal. Landed at hawthorne airport and went to FSS for advice. They called lax approach control on the phone and asked for shoreline routing on my behalf, and told me permissions was granted as long as I departed within 20 mins, and that approach would be expecting my call. I called approach and was cleared to fly north along shoreline, maintain 2500' and notify them upon reaching 2500'. I reached shoreline and 2500' at the same time, and notified approach. Told to fly north at 2500'. Approaching lax, passenger pointed out a jet departing lax, approaching our flight path on a 90 degree angle. I angled the aircraft more toward lax, telling passenger that I wanted to be sure to fly over the flight path of the jet so I wouldn't be caught up in its wing tip vortices. Jet then passed in front, still ascending. Thought it rose above us after passing on left, I was sure we were over and beyond its flight path and wouldn't feel a rush of turbulence. Also mentioned to passenger that it seemed odd that lax departing traffic would be passing so closely. We were no more than 50 yds offshore. After passing jet saw second jet departing, with its landing and position lights clearly visible heading toward us off our right wing, but still a distance away. I was less concerned about this aircraft, because we were already past its flight path, so I felt I could continue straight ahead. Passenger watched it pass behind and below us. At the same time approach asked us to verify altitude. We looked at the altimeter and both confirmed 2500'. Next, before approving frequency change, approach controller gave me a phone # to call upon reaching smo. I read it back and began descent into smo. On ground I called # (TRACON) and was asked what at what altitude I'd flown the shoreline route. I responded 2500', as I'd been assigned. I was asked if my altimeter was functioning correctly. I said that I thought it was, and was then asked if there was a possibility I'd read it wrong. I said anything was possible, though I found that hard to believe, since I thought I knew how to read an altimeter. The person on the other end then asked if I'd seen any other jets during the flight. I replied that I had, and was concerned about it, and had mentioned something about it to my passenger. I was asked if I remembered the jets going over me or under me. This was the first and only time I felt any panic. I said I couldn't remember for sure, that one had gone over, I thought, and one under. But thinking about it all of a sudden I simply couldn't remember. Then I was told that 2 commercial pilots had reported me under them as they climbed out at 2000'. Now the only possible explanation barring any altimeter malfunction was that I'd misread it. I said again that I supposed that was possible, but then how would that explain the fact that I had to descend a considerable distance (not merely 100') to reach smo's 1400' traffic pattern altitude? He replied that he didn't know about that, but when 3 (the # suddenly unaccountably increased) pilots had reported the same thing, my misreading of the altimeter seemed the only possible answer. Additionally, he said 1 of the pilots had reported my aircraft as within 100' of the jet, constituting a near miss. I said that I disagreed with the figure of 100'. While admitting that it had been close, it was not that close. He asked if I'd noticed if 1 of the jets was a company jet, and I said I couldn't remember seeing any airlines names. My passenger later confirmed that we hadn't been close enough to read the names. He asked if I was a student pilot, and when I said no, asked when I'd received my private license (10/90). He asked how many hours it had taken to get my license (about 50) and whether I thought I was a good pilot (pretty good), and what my instrument's name was, what my address was and my phone #, and my pilot certificate #, and then said finally that he was not going to write up a report, but couldn't say whether or not I would be contacted in the next few weeks by anyone else. He told me to go home and think about what had happened, and to think about being a better pilot, and possibly to schedule a chkride with my instrument to review altimeters, among other things. After I hung up, I went back to the aircraft and rechked the altimeter and the pressure setting, which both appeared normal. Since I've had time to think about it, I don't think I misread the altimeter, and I don't think there was anything wrong with it. There were never 2 aircraft above me at the shoreline. In fact, the first jet was west of our aircraft before it ascended above us, so how 2 or 3 jet pilots could have reported me beneath them remains a mystery. When I said I thought 1 aircraft had gone over and 1 under, that was about as close as possible to what actually happened. If I did anything wrong, it was in flying through the TCA west/O mode C, and I should have gone around it. At the same time, the granting of clearance in such a situation is, at best, questionable.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: VFR SMA CLEARED THROUGH TCA ATA CZN AT 2500' MISREAD ALTIMETER AND WA SIN CLOSE PROX TO AT LEAST 2 ACR JETS DEPARTING LAX. NON MODE C FLT HAD BEEN APPROVED BY ATC.

Narrative: 2/SUN/91 TOOK FRIEND FLYING SMO TO PALOMAR. COAST APCH NOTIFIED ME THEY WERE HAVING DIFFICULTY RECEIVING ALT READOUT FROM MY XPONDER. ON TRIP BACK TO SMO, COAST APCH AGAIN CONFIRMED NONFUNCTIONING XPONDER, AND REMINDED ME THAT THEREFORE FLT THROUGH SPECIAL FLT RULES CORRIDOR OVER LAX IS ILLEGAL. LANDED AT HAWTHORNE ARPT AND WENT TO FSS FOR ADVICE. THEY CALLED LAX APCH CTL ON THE PHONE AND ASKED FOR SHORELINE RTING ON MY BEHALF, AND TOLD ME PERMISSIONS WAS GRANTED AS LONG AS I DEPARTED WITHIN 20 MINS, AND THAT APCH WOULD BE EXPECTING MY CALL. I CALLED APCH AND WAS CLRED TO FLY N ALONG SHORELINE, MAINTAIN 2500' AND NOTIFY THEM UPON REACHING 2500'. I REACHED SHORELINE AND 2500' AT THE SAME TIME, AND NOTIFIED APCH. TOLD TO FLY N AT 2500'. APCHING LAX, PAX POINTED OUT A JET DEPARTING LAX, APCHING OUR FLT PATH ON A 90 DEG ANGLE. I ANGLED THE ACFT MORE TOWARD LAX, TELLING PAX THAT I WANTED TO BE SURE TO FLY OVER THE FLT PATH OF THE JET SO I WOULDN'T BE CAUGHT UP IN ITS WING TIP VORTICES. JET THEN PASSED IN FRONT, STILL ASCENDING. THOUGHT IT ROSE ABOVE US AFTER PASSING ON LEFT, I WAS SURE WE WERE OVER AND BEYOND ITS FLT PATH AND WOULDN'T FEEL A RUSH OF TURB. ALSO MENTIONED TO PAX THAT IT SEEMED ODD THAT LAX DEPARTING TFC WOULD BE PASSING SO CLOSELY. WE WERE NO MORE THAN 50 YDS OFFSHORE. AFTER PASSING JET SAW SECOND JET DEPARTING, WITH ITS LNDG AND POS LIGHTS CLEARLY VISIBLE HDG TOWARD US OFF OUR RIGHT WING, BUT STILL A DISTANCE AWAY. I WAS LESS CONCERNED ABOUT THIS ACFT, BECAUSE WE WERE ALREADY PAST ITS FLT PATH, SO I FELT I COULD CONTINUE STRAIGHT AHEAD. PAX WATCHED IT PASS BEHIND AND BELOW US. AT THE SAME TIME APCH ASKED US TO VERIFY ALT. WE LOOKED AT THE ALTIMETER AND BOTH CONFIRMED 2500'. NEXT, BEFORE APPROVING FREQ CHANGE, APCH CTLR GAVE ME A PHONE # TO CALL UPON REACHING SMO. I READ IT BACK AND BEGAN DSNT INTO SMO. ON GND I CALLED # (TRACON) AND WAS ASKED WHAT AT WHAT ALT I'D FLOWN THE SHORELINE RTE. I RESPONDED 2500', AS I'D BEEN ASSIGNED. I WAS ASKED IF MY ALTIMETER WAS FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY. I SAID THAT I THOUGHT IT WAS, AND WAS THEN ASKED IF THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY I'D READ IT WRONG. I SAID ANYTHING WAS POSSIBLE, THOUGH I FOUND THAT HARD TO BELIEVE, SINCE I THOUGHT I KNEW HOW TO READ AN ALTIMETER. THE PERSON ON THE OTHER END THEN ASKED IF I'D SEEN ANY OTHER JETS DURING THE FLT. I REPLIED THAT I HAD, AND WAS CONCERNED ABOUT IT, AND HAD MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT IT TO MY PAX. I WAS ASKED IF I REMEMBERED THE JETS GOING OVER ME OR UNDER ME. THIS WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME I FELT ANY PANIC. I SAID I COULDN'T REMEMBER FOR SURE, THAT ONE HAD GONE OVER, I THOUGHT, AND ONE UNDER. BUT THINKING ABOUT IT ALL OF A SUDDEN I SIMPLY COULDN'T REMEMBER. THEN I WAS TOLD THAT 2 COMMERCIAL PLTS HAD RPTED ME UNDER THEM AS THEY CLBED OUT AT 2000'. NOW THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATION BARRING ANY ALTIMETER MALFUNCTION WAS THAT I'D MISREAD IT. I SAID AGAIN THAT I SUPPOSED THAT WAS POSSIBLE, BUT THEN HOW WOULD THAT EXPLAIN THE FACT THAT I HAD TO DSND A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE (NOT MERELY 100') TO REACH SMO'S 1400' TFC PATTERN ALT? HE REPLIED THAT HE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT, BUT WHEN 3 (THE # SUDDENLY UNACCOUNTABLY INCREASED) PLTS HAD RPTED THE SAME THING, MY MISREADING OF THE ALTIMETER SEEMED THE ONLY POSSIBLE ANSWER. ADDITIONALLY, HE SAID 1 OF THE PLTS HAD RPTED MY ACFT AS WITHIN 100' OF THE JET, CONSTITUTING A NEAR MISS. I SAID THAT I DISAGREED WITH THE FIGURE OF 100'. WHILE ADMITTING THAT IT HAD BEEN CLOSE, IT WAS NOT THAT CLOSE. HE ASKED IF I'D NOTICED IF 1 OF THE JETS WAS A COMPANY JET, AND I SAID I COULDN'T REMEMBER SEEING ANY AIRLINES NAMES. MY PAX LATER CONFIRMED THAT WE HADN'T BEEN CLOSE ENOUGH TO READ THE NAMES. HE ASKED IF I WAS A STUDENT PLT, AND WHEN I SAID NO, ASKED WHEN I'D RECEIVED MY PVT LICENSE (10/90). HE ASKED HOW MANY HRS IT HAD TAKEN TO GET MY LICENSE (ABOUT 50) AND WHETHER I THOUGHT I WAS A GOOD PLT (PRETTY GOOD), AND WHAT MY INSTR'S NAME WAS, WHAT MY ADDRESS WAS AND MY PHONE #, AND MY PLT CERTIFICATE #, AND THEN SAID FINALLY THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO WRITE UP A RPT, BUT COULDN'T SAY WHETHER OR NOT I WOULD BE CONTACTED IN THE NEXT FEW WKS BY ANYONE ELSE. HE TOLD ME TO GO HOME AND THINK ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED, AND TO THINK ABOUT BEING A BETTER PLT, AND POSSIBLY TO SCHEDULE A CHKRIDE WITH MY INSTR TO REVIEW ALTIMETERS, AMONG OTHER THINGS. AFTER I HUNG UP, I WENT BACK TO THE ACFT AND RECHKED THE ALTIMETER AND THE PRESSURE SETTING, WHICH BOTH APPEARED NORMAL. SINCE I'VE HAD TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT, I DON'T THINK I MISREAD THE ALTIMETER, AND I DON'T THINK THERE WAS ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT. THERE WERE NEVER 2 ACFT ABOVE ME AT THE SHORELINE. IN FACT, THE FIRST JET WAS W OF OUR ACFT BEFORE IT ASCENDED ABOVE US, SO HOW 2 OR 3 JET PLTS COULD HAVE RPTED ME BENEATH THEM REMAINS A MYSTERY. WHEN I SAID I THOUGHT 1 ACFT HAD GONE OVER AND 1 UNDER, THAT WAS ABOUT AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. IF I DID ANYTHING WRONG, IT WAS IN FLYING THROUGH THE TCA W/O MODE C, AND I SHOULD HAVE GONE AROUND IT. AT THE SAME TIME, THE GRANTING OF CLRNC IN SUCH A SITUATION IS, AT BEST, QUESTIONABLE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.