Narrative:

I was flying to fdk from 39N to deliver a package. I had called for a WX briefing while in my car on the way to the airport. WX was scattered to broken anywhere from 4000 ft to 2500 ft along the route, with chance of widely scattered light rain and possibly snow showers. At the time of departure, the ceiling and visibility at both departure and destination was better than 3000 ft and 10 mi visibility. It was a quick 2 hour round trip with maybe 10 mins on the ground at my destination. My plans started to unravel with plenty of warning, but I was not keyed into the seriousness of the situation. About the same time I was weaving around the scattered showers, the GPS lost its satellite lock. The handheld is mounted to the yoke, with the antenna inside the airplane. So if the satellites are overhead, or behind me, reception is poor. This usually clears up in about 10 mins, so I was unconcerned at the time: second mistake. While taxiing out at fdk after delivering the package, I had the right brake lock up on me. This only turned out to be due to a slipped cable in the parking brake system, but it did delay me for a total of about 30 mins on the ground. Departing fdk the ceiling was about 3000 ft, visibility better than 10 mi. My destination was also reporting better than 4000 ft ceiling. About 20 mins into the flight home, the ceilings and visibility started to drop. Having just flown this course about 50 mins ago, I expected to weave around these showers, and find fairly good VFR on the other side. Since I was low, the VOR's were not getting a good signal, and the GPS still had not come back on-line. After dodging 2 small snow showers, visibility and ceilings began to close in on me. I was now working myself into a maze of fairly dense snow showers, not just flying around them. I started to try and reverse course, but the conditions were rapidly deteriorating around me. I slowed the aircraft to minimize turn radius, and was by now down to about 1000 ft MSL - maybe 700 ft AGL. The area I was in was still reasonable visibility, and the clouds above were bright, indicating they were not very thick. With no GPS and its friendly little moving map, and no way out of the maze, I was low and slow and I was in trouble. I knew there were mountains nearby, so I chose to try and climb through the cloud layer. Immediately upon initiating the climb, I entered the clouds in full IMC. I was experiencing massive vertigo due to the previous steep turns, and had to concentrate fully to overcome the impulse to roll left. Although my instrument rating was not current, it was good enough to just keep the wings sort of level and keep climbing, though my heading went to hell. If I did not have an instrument rating, I would have surely spun in. I clearly recall thinking that I knew that most fatal accidents occur from continued VFR into IMC. I knew this, I read safety articles, I participate in safety seminars, and here I was. Climbing through about 3000 ft I knew I had to call for help. I tuned 121.5 and issued a mayday call. Mcguire responded immediately, and I would have done anything he told me to - it was the first right thing I had done in the last 10 mins. I told him I was VFR into IMC, that I was instrument rated, but I had no charts on board, and I needed a vector to some clear WX. With about 3 hours of fuel on board I was ready to just get on top and fly until I found a hole. Mcguire asked for a position and I responded unable. I then squawked 7700 at his request and had enough sense to bring up my position on the LORAN. I guess I should have just told him I was midway between fdk and 39N, but instead I read off a string of coordinates. Again, I was relying on my gadgets and not thinking clearly. Next came the ice. The clouds, temperature right at freezing, mixed snow and rain in the area - perfect. I did pick up light rime icing a few times, but it seemed to clear quickly. I think I was over-exaggerating the actual danger, but I had visions of fast, massive clear ice from super cooled rain. As I climbed higher, mcguire told me he had found me on radar and was working on an IFR clearance, and to fly a heading. It was good to be given clear instructions. This removed all the options, and gave me something to concentrate on doing right. Prior to being given a heading, I didn't even include it into my scan, such as it was, because I was not on any heading. I was focusing on the altitude indicator, and the turn and bank. At one point, the ai was indicating a very steep climb, and I noticed airspeed dropping. I think I had carburetor ice and since I was climbing through 8000 ft and neglected to lean yet, the engine was rough. I fiddled with both the mixture and the carburetor heat and lowered the nose and things started to smooth out. I finally started to break out at about 9500 ft, but it was a very ragged cloud top, and I would be back in it soon. Still, it was quite a relief to be able to see. Mcguire continued to help, and then handed me off to phila approach. For some reason, I was not able to switch frequencys on the FLIP flop communication radio. After telling mcguire I was unable, I did manage to get it to FLIP. I have no idea why it was not working, but it seems that when things start to fall apart, everything goes to hell. Soon after contacting phila, I was given a clearance, and things settled down. I was descended to 5000 ft, and started to see breaks under me. I was also icing again, so I asked for and received 4000 ft. By this time I was back to clear VFR and better than 30 mi. Phila asked my intentions since I did not have charts or approach plates, and since I was now in the clear I just canceled IFR and flew home without incident. Why did this happen? 1) I was not willing to turn back to the foreign airport soon enough. I think that I would have turned back if I had hit that WX on the way down, but with responsibilities and commitments on the other side, I let my desire lead me into a worsening situation. 2) too must faith in the gadgets. With all that high-tech help on board, I felt better prepared to handle the WX. This stuff is not IFR approved, especially the handheld GPS. The gizmo that typically gives the most confidence let me down when I needed it the most. It did come back on line at about 9000 ft and it was a great help in orienting myself, but I must really treat it as extra fluff and never rely on it. 3) I must keep current, and keep a set of charts on-board if I expect to fly on business. Had I been up to snuff on my instruments, I would have just called center and filed normally as soon as it was looking marginal. ATC and mcguire did a superb job, but this should not have required a mayday.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SMA ENCOUNTERS WX, ENTERS IMC DECLARES EMER.

Narrative: I WAS FLYING TO FDK FROM 39N TO DELIVER A PACKAGE. I HAD CALLED FOR A WX BRIEFING WHILE IN MY CAR ON THE WAY TO THE ARPT. WX WAS SCATTERED TO BROKEN ANYWHERE FROM 4000 FT TO 2500 FT ALONG THE RTE, WITH CHANCE OF WIDELY SCATTERED LIGHT RAIN AND POSSIBLY SNOW SHOWERS. AT THE TIME OF DEP, THE CEILING AND VISIBILITY AT BOTH DEP AND DEST WAS BETTER THAN 3000 FT AND 10 MI VISIBILITY. IT WAS A QUICK 2 HR ROUND TRIP WITH MAYBE 10 MINS ON THE GND AT MY DEST. MY PLANS STARTED TO UNRAVEL WITH PLENTY OF WARNING, BUT I WAS NOT KEYED INTO THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SIT. ABOUT THE SAME TIME I WAS WEAVING AROUND THE SCATTERED SHOWERS, THE GPS LOST ITS SATELLITE LOCK. THE HANDHELD IS MOUNTED TO THE YOKE, WITH THE ANTENNA INSIDE THE AIRPLANE. SO IF THE SATELLITES ARE OVERHEAD, OR BEHIND ME, RECEPTION IS POOR. THIS USUALLY CLRS UP IN ABOUT 10 MINS, SO I WAS UNCONCERNED AT THE TIME: SECOND MISTAKE. WHILE TAXIING OUT AT FDK AFTER DELIVERING THE PACKAGE, I HAD THE R BRAKE LOCK UP ON ME. THIS ONLY TURNED OUT TO BE DUE TO A SLIPPED CABLE IN THE PARKING BRAKE SYS, BUT IT DID DELAY ME FOR A TOTAL OF ABOUT 30 MINS ON THE GND. DEPARTING FDK THE CEILING WAS ABOUT 3000 FT, VISIBILITY BETTER THAN 10 MI. MY DEST WAS ALSO RPTING BETTER THAN 4000 FT CEILING. ABOUT 20 MINS INTO THE FLT HOME, THE CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY STARTED TO DROP. HAVING JUST FLOWN THIS COURSE ABOUT 50 MINS AGO, I EXPECTED TO WEAVE AROUND THESE SHOWERS, AND FIND FAIRLY GOOD VFR ON THE OTHER SIDE. SINCE I WAS LOW, THE VOR'S WERE NOT GETTING A GOOD SIGNAL, AND THE GPS STILL HAD NOT COME BACK ON-LINE. AFTER DODGING 2 SMALL SNOW SHOWERS, VISIBILITY AND CEILINGS BEGAN TO CLOSE IN ON ME. I WAS NOW WORKING MYSELF INTO A MAZE OF FAIRLY DENSE SNOW SHOWERS, NOT JUST FLYING AROUND THEM. I STARTED TO TRY AND REVERSE COURSE, BUT THE CONDITIONS WERE RAPIDLY DETERIORATING AROUND ME. I SLOWED THE ACFT TO MINIMIZE TURN RADIUS, AND WAS BY NOW DOWN TO ABOUT 1000 FT MSL - MAYBE 700 FT AGL. THE AREA I WAS IN WAS STILL REASONABLE VISIBILITY, AND THE CLOUDS ABOVE WERE BRIGHT, INDICATING THEY WERE NOT VERY THICK. WITH NO GPS AND ITS FRIENDLY LITTLE MOVING MAP, AND NO WAY OUT OF THE MAZE, I WAS LOW AND SLOW AND I WAS IN TROUBLE. I KNEW THERE WERE MOUNTAINS NEARBY, SO I CHOSE TO TRY AND CLB THROUGH THE CLOUD LAYER. IMMEDIATELY UPON INITIATING THE CLB, I ENTERED THE CLOUDS IN FULL IMC. I WAS EXPERIENCING MASSIVE VERTIGO DUE TO THE PREVIOUS STEEP TURNS, AND HAD TO CONCENTRATE FULLY TO OVERCOME THE IMPULSE TO ROLL L. ALTHOUGH MY INST RATING WAS NOT CURRENT, IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH TO JUST KEEP THE WINGS SORT OF LEVEL AND KEEP CLBING, THOUGH MY HDG WENT TO HELL. IF I DID NOT HAVE AN INST RATING, I WOULD HAVE SURELY SPUN IN. I CLRLY RECALL THINKING THAT I KNEW THAT MOST FATAL ACCIDENTS OCCUR FROM CONTINUED VFR INTO IMC. I KNEW THIS, I READ SAFETY ARTICLES, I PARTICIPATE IN SAFETY SEMINARS, AND HERE I WAS. CLBING THROUGH ABOUT 3000 FT I KNEW I HAD TO CALL FOR HELP. I TUNED 121.5 AND ISSUED A MAYDAY CALL. MCGUIRE RESPONDED IMMEDIATELY, AND I WOULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING HE TOLD ME TO - IT WAS THE FIRST RIGHT THING I HAD DONE IN THE LAST 10 MINS. I TOLD HIM I WAS VFR INTO IMC, THAT I WAS INST RATED, BUT I HAD NO CHARTS ON BOARD, AND I NEEDED A VECTOR TO SOME CLR WX. WITH ABOUT 3 HRS OF FUEL ON BOARD I WAS READY TO JUST GET ON TOP AND FLY UNTIL I FOUND A HOLE. MCGUIRE ASKED FOR A POS AND I RESPONDED UNABLE. I THEN SQUAWKED 7700 AT HIS REQUEST AND HAD ENOUGH SENSE TO BRING UP MY POS ON THE LORAN. I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE JUST TOLD HIM I WAS MIDWAY BTWN FDK AND 39N, BUT INSTEAD I READ OFF A STRING OF COORDINATES. AGAIN, I WAS RELYING ON MY GADGETS AND NOT THINKING CLRLY. NEXT CAME THE ICE. THE CLOUDS, TEMP RIGHT AT FREEZING, MIXED SNOW AND RAIN IN THE AREA - PERFECT. I DID PICK UP LIGHT RIME ICING A FEW TIMES, BUT IT SEEMED TO CLR QUICKLY. I THINK I WAS OVER-EXAGGERATING THE ACTUAL DANGER, BUT I HAD VISIONS OF FAST, MASSIVE CLR ICE FROM SUPER COOLED RAIN. AS I CLBED HIGHER, MCGUIRE TOLD ME HE HAD FOUND ME ON RADAR AND WAS WORKING ON AN IFR CLRNC, AND TO FLY A HDG. IT WAS GOOD TO BE GIVEN CLR INSTRUCTIONS. THIS REMOVED ALL THE OPTIONS, AND GAVE ME SOMETHING TO CONCENTRATE ON DOING RIGHT. PRIOR TO BEING GIVEN A HDG, I DIDN'T EVEN INCLUDE IT INTO MY SCAN, SUCH AS IT WAS, BECAUSE I WAS NOT ON ANY HDG. I WAS FOCUSING ON THE ALT INDICATOR, AND THE TURN AND BANK. AT ONE POINT, THE AI WAS INDICATING A VERY STEEP CLB, AND I NOTICED AIRSPD DROPPING. I THINK I HAD CARB ICE AND SINCE I WAS CLBING THROUGH 8000 FT AND NEGLECTED TO LEAN YET, THE ENG WAS ROUGH. I FIDDLED WITH BOTH THE MIXTURE AND THE CARB HEAT AND LOWERED THE NOSE AND THINGS STARTED TO SMOOTH OUT. I FINALLY STARTED TO BREAK OUT AT ABOUT 9500 FT, BUT IT WAS A VERY RAGGED CLOUD TOP, AND I WOULD BE BACK IN IT SOON. STILL, IT WAS QUITE A RELIEF TO BE ABLE TO SEE. MCGUIRE CONTINUED TO HELP, AND THEN HANDED ME OFF TO PHILA APCH. FOR SOME REASON, I WAS NOT ABLE TO SWITCH FREQS ON THE FLIP FLOP COM RADIO. AFTER TELLING MCGUIRE I WAS UNABLE, I DID MANAGE TO GET IT TO FLIP. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IT WAS NOT WORKING, BUT IT SEEMS THAT WHEN THINGS START TO FALL APART, EVERYTHING GOES TO HELL. SOON AFTER CONTACTING PHILA, I WAS GIVEN A CLRNC, AND THINGS SETTLED DOWN. I WAS DSNDED TO 5000 FT, AND STARTED TO SEE BREAKS UNDER ME. I WAS ALSO ICING AGAIN, SO I ASKED FOR AND RECEIVED 4000 FT. BY THIS TIME I WAS BACK TO CLR VFR AND BETTER THAN 30 MI. PHILA ASKED MY INTENTIONS SINCE I DID NOT HAVE CHARTS OR APCH PLATES, AND SINCE I WAS NOW IN THE CLR I JUST CANCELED IFR AND FLEW HOME WITHOUT INCIDENT. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? 1) I WAS NOT WILLING TO TURN BACK TO THE FOREIGN ARPT SOON ENOUGH. I THINK THAT I WOULD HAVE TURNED BACK IF I HAD HIT THAT WX ON THE WAY DOWN, BUT WITH RESPONSIBILITIES AND COMMITMENTS ON THE OTHER SIDE, I LET MY DESIRE LEAD ME INTO A WORSENING SIT. 2) TOO MUST FAITH IN THE GADGETS. WITH ALL THAT HIGH-TECH HELP ON BOARD, I FELT BETTER PREPARED TO HANDLE THE WX. THIS STUFF IS NOT IFR APPROVED, ESPECIALLY THE HANDHELD GPS. THE GIZMO THAT TYPICALLY GIVES THE MOST CONFIDENCE LET ME DOWN WHEN I NEEDED IT THE MOST. IT DID COME BACK ON LINE AT ABOUT 9000 FT AND IT WAS A GREAT HELP IN ORIENTING MYSELF, BUT I MUST REALLY TREAT IT AS EXTRA FLUFF AND NEVER RELY ON IT. 3) I MUST KEEP CURRENT, AND KEEP A SET OF CHARTS ON-BOARD IF I EXPECT TO FLY ON BUSINESS. HAD I BEEN UP TO SNUFF ON MY INSTS, I WOULD HAVE JUST CALLED CTR AND FILED NORMALLY AS SOON AS IT WAS LOOKING MARGINAL. ATC AND MCGUIRE DID A SUPERB JOB, BUT THIS SHOULD NOT HAVE REQUIRED A MAYDAY.

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.