Narrative:

While returning to plainville, ct, from the east via the hartford VOR, 15 NM from plainville, we possibly entered hartford's class D airspace. After passing over the VOR at 2000 ft we made a rough estimate of a heading back to plainville and continued. Monitoring hartford tower, we heard ourselves called as traffic to 2 aircraft departing to the south. We thought we were south of the class D, but upon recognition of some distinctive ground features we realized we were farther north than previously thought. By this time, however, we would have been clear of the airspace anyway so we made no corrective action and proceeded to our destination. With both a private and a commercial pilot in the aircraft, situational awareness should not have been lost. Throughout the trip, one of us would fly while the other naved, but this stopped upon crossing the VOR as we returned to familiar surroundings. We were aware of the class D airspace and discussed how to avoid it, but became lazy when we approached our destination. Had we been the least bit vigilant in tracking outbound from the VOR, this problem would not have occurred. There were no traffic conflicts due to our monitoring tower frequency as well as tower's separation services to the departing aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: 2 PLTS IN A C172 FLY THROUGH HFD'S CLASS D AIRSPACE WITHOUT AUTH. THEY DO NOT REALIZE THE PROB UNTIL THEY HEAR HFD TWR ADVISING TFC OF THEIR PRESENCE.

Narrative: WHILE RETURNING TO PLAINVILLE, CT, FROM THE E VIA THE HARTFORD VOR, 15 NM FROM PLAINVILLE, WE POSSIBLY ENTERED HARTFORD'S CLASS D AIRSPACE. AFTER PASSING OVER THE VOR AT 2000 FT WE MADE A ROUGH ESTIMATE OF A HDG BACK TO PLAINVILLE AND CONTINUED. MONITORING HARTFORD TWR, WE HEARD OURSELVES CALLED AS TFC TO 2 ACFT DEPARTING TO THE S. WE THOUGHT WE WERE S OF THE CLASS D, BUT UPON RECOGNITION OF SOME DISTINCTIVE GND FEATURES WE REALIZED WE WERE FARTHER N THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT. BY THIS TIME, HOWEVER, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN CLR OF THE AIRSPACE ANYWAY SO WE MADE NO CORRECTIVE ACTION AND PROCEEDED TO OUR DEST. WITH BOTH A PVT AND A COMMERCIAL PLT IN THE ACFT, SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN LOST. THROUGHOUT THE TRIP, ONE OF US WOULD FLY WHILE THE OTHER NAVED, BUT THIS STOPPED UPON XING THE VOR AS WE RETURNED TO FAMILIAR SURROUNDINGS. WE WERE AWARE OF THE CLASS D AIRSPACE AND DISCUSSED HOW TO AVOID IT, BUT BECAME LAZY WHEN WE APCHED OUR DEST. HAD WE BEEN THE LEAST BIT VIGILANT IN TRACKING OUTBOUND FROM THE VOR, THIS PROB WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED. THERE WERE NO TFC CONFLICTS DUE TO OUR MONITORING TWR FREQ AS WELL AS TWR'S SEPARATION SVCS TO THE DEPARTING ACFT.

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.