Narrative:

I am a low hour VFR private pilot with about 72 hours in PA28's and 9 months of being licensed. I was out on my first cross country night flight. I was to fly from lot to oxi to kankakee and then back to lot. I repeatedly checked the WX throughout the day using cirrus and duats. The current conditions were VFR and the area airports' forecasts were predicting 6000 ft ceilings and decent visibility with conditions to deteriorate around XA00 local time. My flight plan had me home by XC00 pm so I didn't consider the WX a factor. A friend and I departed lot at around XB00 pm local and headed towards oxi. We arrived uneventfully at oxi, made 2 lndgs and then continued on towards kankakee. Approximately half way to kankakee I noticed visibility to the south was rapidly decreasing and decided to abort the remainder of the flight and head for home. About 5 or 10 mi from the jot VOR the conditions rapidly deteriorated and I flew directly into a cloud, with resulting zero visibility. I started a standard rate turn to get back to the conditions I had just left and had a major panic attack compounded with spatial disorientation and found myself in a steep dive exceeding vne and was not immediately sure how to react. I regained control of the aircraft as I fell momentarily below the cloud. I was around 500- 1000 ft AGL and knew the area I was in was full of tall smokestacks, tall industrial building and antennae. The conditions were rapidly becoming IFR if it had not already done so. I decided I was in over my head and was in an emergency situation and that I needed to climb for ground avoidance and possibly to get to the top of the clouds. I tried briefly to find the approach frequency for ord but every time I took my eyes off of the attitude indicator I felt like I was not in control of the aircraft and my panic level raised markedly. I tuned to 121.5 and transmitted an emergency call, which was quickly responded to by rockford, il. After several mins they arranged and handed me over to an emergency controller at O'hare. I was reminded to squawk 7700 and asked to identify. The controller talked to the kankakee FSS to find an available airport with VFR WX and suggested a heading to try aurora municipal where a pilot had reported clear skies. Sometime around then I broke through the tops of the cloud at around 7000 ft MSL and continued intermittently in and out of the clouds. I was radar vectored to aurora and found it overcast with no breaks. It was then suggested that I try heading for pwk (where I had done my training) which was reporting high ceilings and occasional breaks. Since I was still in and out of the clouds and there was icing reported in the area we decided I should descend to get under the clouds and back to VFR conditions. The controller talked me down through a slow instrument descent and had me have my passenger check the wings for icing (luckily, there was none). I came out of the cloud and was asked if I'd like to land at ord or pwk, while I was deciding it occurred to the controller that I was in the vicinity of dupage (west chicago). I was given a vector to dupage and was handed off to dupage tower and made an uneventful landing there. This incident was caused by my failure to correctly interpret the WX information available to me. I have little doubt that was it not for the controller's calm and professional response at rockford and O'hare the incident would not have ended well. On the following day, while ferrying the aircraft back to its base airport it had a complete electrical system failure right as I entered the traffic pattern, which of course resulted in radio and transponder failure. I had announced entering the pattern and had idented the other traffic already in the vicinity and proceeded to make an uneventful landing. The sobering thought was, of course, what would have happened had the failure occurred the night before. I think the new rule requiring a cross country at night with an instructor, as a prerequisite to a private license, is positive step forward. It probably would have helped me cope better, unfortunately I got my license before the rule and did not have the foresight to ask my instructor to do a long night cross country. In retrospect I made several errors of judgement, the first being making the flight at all, which I believe was a result of not fully understanding the WX system in the area. In the future I plan to back up my interps of duats with a call to wxbrief to insure my assessments of the WX are correct and to learn where I have misinterpreted it so as not to make the same mistake again. Secondly, in my race back to lot against the WX, I did not notify the FSS of my deviation from my flight plan which would have left myself and my passenger mi from rescue searches if I had been forced to make an off field landing, or worse. Thirdly, I believed myself not to be susceptible to panic attacks, which may have been my biggest failure. And finally I did not recognize I was in an emergency until I was already fully involved. I could have easily diverted earlier to one of several other fields and avoided the whole situation. I also learned how powerful a panic attack and spatial disorientation can be and that I am as vulnerable to them as anyone else. For about a min I was in the cloud and completely unsure of which way was up and therefore how to react. By reverting to my emergency training and convincing myself to trust the instruments over my personal instincts I was able to regain control of the aircraft. It was only by keeping up my instrument scan, in complete panic, that I was able to identify that I was in an unintended dive. Also, I found that I needed to play mind games on myself to control my stress level. The trick, which worked for me, was to tell myself repeatedly that I was doing IFR training and that my flight instructor was right next to me and could take over if I needed him to. The thought which keeps coming to mind is how many stories like this I've read in aviation magazines and how I felt that they did not apply to me, since I would not let myself get into that sort of situation in the first place. However, having read those articles I was reassured that other pilots had found themselves in similar sits and made it out to talk about it. Finally of course, the reason I did make it out was the response I got from the controllers and FSS stations on the ground. I was the cause of the emergency, the controllers were the heroes. Never again.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LOW TIME PVT PLT ON HIS FIRST NIGHT XCOUNTRY FLT. HE MISJUDGES THE WX TIME FRAME AND GETS INTO THE CLOUDS AT 2500 FT. HE THEN LOSES CTL OF THE ACFT AND RECOVERS, OUT OF THE CLOUDS, NEAR 500 FT AGL. A SERIES OF RADIO CONTACTS RESULTS IN ORD APCH CTLR VECTORING HIM TO A VISUAL APCH TO DPA, IL.

Narrative: I AM A LOW HR VFR PVT PLT WITH ABOUT 72 HRS IN PA28'S AND 9 MONTHS OF BEING LICENSED. I WAS OUT ON MY FIRST XCOUNTRY NIGHT FLT. I WAS TO FLY FROM LOT TO OXI TO KANKAKEE AND THEN BACK TO LOT. I REPEATEDLY CHKED THE WX THROUGHOUT THE DAY USING CIRRUS AND DUATS. THE CURRENT CONDITIONS WERE VFR AND THE AREA ARPTS' FORECASTS WERE PREDICTING 6000 FT CEILINGS AND DECENT VISIBILITY WITH CONDITIONS TO DETERIORATE AROUND XA00 LCL TIME. MY FLT PLAN HAD ME HOME BY XC00 PM SO I DIDN'T CONSIDER THE WX A FACTOR. A FRIEND AND I DEPARTED LOT AT AROUND XB00 PM LCL AND HEADED TOWARDS OXI. WE ARRIVED UNEVENTFULLY AT OXI, MADE 2 LNDGS AND THEN CONTINUED ON TOWARDS KANKAKEE. APPROX HALF WAY TO KANKAKEE I NOTICED VISIBILITY TO THE S WAS RAPIDLY DECREASING AND DECIDED TO ABORT THE REMAINDER OF THE FLT AND HEAD FOR HOME. ABOUT 5 OR 10 MI FROM THE JOT VOR THE CONDITIONS RAPIDLY DETERIORATED AND I FLEW DIRECTLY INTO A CLOUD, WITH RESULTING ZERO VISIBILITY. I STARTED A STANDARD RATE TURN TO GET BACK TO THE CONDITIONS I HAD JUST LEFT AND HAD A MAJOR PANIC ATTACK COMPOUNDED WITH SPATIAL DISORIENTATION AND FOUND MYSELF IN A STEEP DIVE EXCEEDING VNE AND WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY SURE HOW TO REACT. I REGAINED CTL OF THE ACFT AS I FELL MOMENTARILY BELOW THE CLOUD. I WAS AROUND 500- 1000 FT AGL AND KNEW THE AREA I WAS IN WAS FULL OF TALL SMOKESTACKS, TALL INDUSTRIAL BUILDING AND ANTENNAE. THE CONDITIONS WERE RAPIDLY BECOMING IFR IF IT HAD NOT ALREADY DONE SO. I DECIDED I WAS IN OVER MY HEAD AND WAS IN AN EMER SIT AND THAT I NEEDED TO CLB FOR GND AVOIDANCE AND POSSIBLY TO GET TO THE TOP OF THE CLOUDS. I TRIED BRIEFLY TO FIND THE APCH FREQ FOR ORD BUT EVERY TIME I TOOK MY EYES OFF OF THE ATTITUDE INDICATOR I FELT LIKE I WAS NOT IN CTL OF THE ACFT AND MY PANIC LEVEL RAISED MARKEDLY. I TUNED TO 121.5 AND XMITTED AN EMER CALL, WHICH WAS QUICKLY RESPONDED TO BY ROCKFORD, IL. AFTER SEVERAL MINS THEY ARRANGED AND HANDED ME OVER TO AN EMER CTLR AT O'HARE. I WAS REMINDED TO SQUAWK 7700 AND ASKED TO IDENT. THE CTLR TALKED TO THE KANKAKEE FSS TO FIND AN AVAILABLE ARPT WITH VFR WX AND SUGGESTED A HEADING TO TRY AURORA MUNICIPAL WHERE A PLT HAD RPTED CLR SKIES. SOMETIME AROUND THEN I BROKE THROUGH THE TOPS OF THE CLOUD AT AROUND 7000 FT MSL AND CONTINUED INTERMITTENTLY IN AND OUT OF THE CLOUDS. I WAS RADAR VECTORED TO AURORA AND FOUND IT OVCST WITH NO BREAKS. IT WAS THEN SUGGESTED THAT I TRY HEADING FOR PWK (WHERE I HAD DONE MY TRAINING) WHICH WAS RPTING HIGH CEILINGS AND OCCASIONAL BREAKS. SINCE I WAS STILL IN AND OUT OF THE CLOUDS AND THERE WAS ICING RPTED IN THE AREA WE DECIDED I SHOULD DSND TO GET UNDER THE CLOUDS AND BACK TO VFR CONDITIONS. THE CTLR TALKED ME DOWN THROUGH A SLOW INST DSCNT AND HAD ME HAVE MY PAX CHK THE WINGS FOR ICING (LUCKILY, THERE WAS NONE). I CAME OUT OF THE CLOUD AND WAS ASKED IF I'D LIKE TO LAND AT ORD OR PWK, WHILE I WAS DECIDING IT OCCURRED TO THE CTLR THAT I WAS IN THE VICINITY OF DUPAGE (WEST CHICAGO). I WAS GIVEN A VECTOR TO DUPAGE AND WAS HANDED OFF TO DUPAGE TWR AND MADE AN UNEVENTFUL LNDG THERE. THIS INCIDENT WAS CAUSED BY MY FAILURE TO CORRECTLY INTERPRET THE WX INFO AVAILABLE TO ME. I HAVE LITTLE DOUBT THAT WAS IT NOT FOR THE CTLR'S CALM AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSE AT ROCKFORD AND O'HARE THE INCIDENT WOULD NOT HAVE ENDED WELL. ON THE FOLLOWING DAY, WHILE FERRYING THE ACFT BACK TO ITS BASE ARPT IT HAD A COMPLETE ELECTRICAL SYS FAILURE RIGHT AS I ENTERED THE TFC PATTERN, WHICH OF COURSE RESULTED IN RADIO AND XPONDER FAILURE. I HAD ANNOUNCED ENTERING THE PATTERN AND HAD IDENTED THE OTHER TFC ALREADY IN THE VICINITY AND PROCEEDED TO MAKE AN UNEVENTFUL LNDG. THE SOBERING THOUGHT WAS, OF COURSE, WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED HAD THE FAILURE OCCURRED THE NIGHT BEFORE. I THINK THE NEW RULE REQUIRING A XCOUNTRY AT NIGHT WITH AN INSTRUCTOR, AS A PREREQUISITE TO A PVT LICENSE, IS POSITIVE STEP FORWARD. IT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE HELPED ME COPE BETTER, UNFORTUNATELY I GOT MY LICENSE BEFORE THE RULE AND DID NOT HAVE THE FORESIGHT TO ASK MY INSTRUCTOR TO DO A LONG NIGHT XCOUNTRY. IN RETROSPECT I MADE SEVERAL ERRORS OF JUDGEMENT, THE FIRST BEING MAKING THE FLT AT ALL, WHICH I BELIEVE WAS A RESULT OF NOT FULLY UNDERSTANDING THE WX SYS IN THE AREA. IN THE FUTURE I PLAN TO BACK UP MY INTERPS OF DUATS WITH A CALL TO WXBRIEF TO INSURE MY ASSESSMENTS OF THE WX ARE CORRECT AND TO LEARN WHERE I HAVE MISINTERPRETED IT SO AS NOT TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AGAIN. SECONDLY, IN MY RACE BACK TO LOT AGAINST THE WX, I DID NOT NOTIFY THE FSS OF MY DEV FROM MY FLT PLAN WHICH WOULD HAVE LEFT MYSELF AND MY PAX MI FROM RESCUE SEARCHES IF I HAD BEEN FORCED TO MAKE AN OFF FIELD LNDG, OR WORSE. THIRDLY, I BELIEVED MYSELF NOT TO BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO PANIC ATTACKS, WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN MY BIGGEST FAILURE. AND FINALLY I DID NOT RECOGNIZE I WAS IN AN EMER UNTIL I WAS ALREADY FULLY INVOLVED. I COULD HAVE EASILY DIVERTED EARLIER TO ONE OF SEVERAL OTHER FIELDS AND AVOIDED THE WHOLE SIT. I ALSO LEARNED HOW POWERFUL A PANIC ATTACK AND SPATIAL DISORIENTATION CAN BE AND THAT I AM AS VULNERABLE TO THEM AS ANYONE ELSE. FOR ABOUT A MIN I WAS IN THE CLOUD AND COMPLETELY UNSURE OF WHICH WAY WAS UP AND THEREFORE HOW TO REACT. BY REVERTING TO MY EMER TRAINING AND CONVINCING MYSELF TO TRUST THE INSTS OVER MY PERSONAL INSTINCTS I WAS ABLE TO REGAIN CTL OF THE ACFT. IT WAS ONLY BY KEEPING UP MY INST SCAN, IN COMPLETE PANIC, THAT I WAS ABLE TO IDENT THAT I WAS IN AN UNINTENDED DIVE. ALSO, I FOUND THAT I NEEDED TO PLAY MIND GAMES ON MYSELF TO CTL MY STRESS LEVEL. THE TRICK, WHICH WORKED FOR ME, WAS TO TELL MYSELF REPEATEDLY THAT I WAS DOING IFR TRAINING AND THAT MY FLT INSTRUCTOR WAS RIGHT NEXT TO ME AND COULD TAKE OVER IF I NEEDED HIM TO. THE THOUGHT WHICH KEEPS COMING TO MIND IS HOW MANY STORIES LIKE THIS I'VE READ IN AVIATION MAGAZINES AND HOW I FELT THAT THEY DID NOT APPLY TO ME, SINCE I WOULD NOT LET MYSELF GET INTO THAT SORT OF SIT IN THE FIRST PLACE. HOWEVER, HAVING READ THOSE ARTICLES I WAS REASSURED THAT OTHER PLTS HAD FOUND THEMSELVES IN SIMILAR SITS AND MADE IT OUT TO TALK ABOUT IT. FINALLY OF COURSE, THE REASON I DID MAKE IT OUT WAS THE RESPONSE I GOT FROM THE CTLRS AND FSS STATIONS ON THE GND. I WAS THE CAUSE OF THE EMER, THE CTLRS WERE THE HEROES. NEVER AGAIN.

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.