An instructor pilot may have violated many FARS and made serious judgement errors during an instrume...

Narrative:

I am a pilot working on my instrument rating in the san antonio area. Before we departed kerrville my instructor pointed out a tower on a hill that is apparently 3 mi away. 'If you can see that, you have 3 mi visibility.' I could barely make out a faint red light on top of it and it did not seem to be in the direction we were going. As we taxied to the runway, my instructor pulled out his glasses and said, 'oh shit, I've got the wrong glasses. Oh well, I've got your eyes and they are pretty eyes at that, no problem.' I asked if we needed to go back, but he just gestured forward and said, 'let's go.' under the hood I was only aware that we were not able to get much altitude because of the low ceiling. We did not file an IFR flight plan. He actually suggested that he wear foggles while I was under the hood so that he could log time. My response was 'no, I would like to think that there was one of us who could see.' about 10 mi from kerrville my instructor had me lift the hood and look around. We had very poor visibility. According to him there were towers around higher than we were and we needed to turn around. If we started out with 3 mi visibility, this had to be 1 1/2 mi. We were scud running. As we came in close to junction, my instructor had me remove the hood. My first remark was about the big 'X' that was mowed in the grass in front of the runway and that it appeared that the runway was closed. He said that there was a turf runway that must be OTS, and said 'this is my territory, not to worry.' as we approached closer, I told him that the runway had an extremely rough surface that appeared to be deeply grooved. Again, he brushed me off with a comment about small airports having various surfaces. All the different airplanes I was flying seemed to have me doing some lousy lndgs but this time the mains were settling in first. As soon as they touched, I knew we were in gravel -- heavy gravel. The runway was under construction. I hit the throttle and said 'we're out of here, this xxxxing runway is closed!' as we cleared the area, he commented 'they're talking about us.' he was apparently worried about someone discovering what we just did. At any rate, we moved on to rocksprings. I noted that the fuel was low. He said he had intended to get fuel in junction but we'd be fine. We had moved our way through clouds and were now on top of a steadily thickening layer. There were still holes but they were becoming fewer and fewer. Again, we were not on a filed plan. When I mentioned the fact that the left tank was empty and the right showed very little, he said 'that seems to be bothering you, you know what we do about that?' he reached across me and stuck one of his business cards over the fuel gauge. After returning home, I pulled out an airport diagram of junction. I was absolutely sickened when I saw the turf strip crossing the runway midfield not at the end. We called flight service to discover that this airport had been closed since jun/xa/99 and would be closed until sep/99.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN INSTRUCTOR PLT MAY HAVE VIOLATED MANY FARS AND MADE SERIOUS JUDGEMENT ERRORS DURING AN INST INSTRUCTION FLT. THESE EVENTS ARE NOTED IN THE LETTER TO THE SAT AREA FSDO FROM THE STUDENT PLT.

Narrative: I AM A PLT WORKING ON MY INST RATING IN THE SAN ANTONIO AREA. BEFORE WE DEPARTED KERRVILLE MY INSTRUCTOR POINTED OUT A TWR ON A HILL THAT IS APPARENTLY 3 MI AWAY. 'IF YOU CAN SEE THAT, YOU HAVE 3 MI VISIBILITY.' I COULD BARELY MAKE OUT A FAINT RED LIGHT ON TOP OF IT AND IT DID NOT SEEM TO BE IN THE DIRECTION WE WERE GOING. AS WE TAXIED TO THE RWY, MY INSTRUCTOR PULLED OUT HIS GLASSES AND SAID, 'OH SHIT, I'VE GOT THE WRONG GLASSES. OH WELL, I'VE GOT YOUR EYES AND THEY ARE PRETTY EYES AT THAT, NO PROB.' I ASKED IF WE NEEDED TO GO BACK, BUT HE JUST GESTURED FORWARD AND SAID, 'LET'S GO.' UNDER THE HOOD I WAS ONLY AWARE THAT WE WERE NOT ABLE TO GET MUCH ALT BECAUSE OF THE LOW CEILING. WE DID NOT FILE AN IFR FLT PLAN. HE ACTUALLY SUGGESTED THAT HE WEAR FOGGLES WHILE I WAS UNDER THE HOOD SO THAT HE COULD LOG TIME. MY RESPONSE WAS 'NO, I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT THERE WAS ONE OF US WHO COULD SEE.' ABOUT 10 MI FROM KERRVILLE MY INSTRUCTOR HAD ME LIFT THE HOOD AND LOOK AROUND. WE HAD VERY POOR VISIBILITY. ACCORDING TO HIM THERE WERE TWRS AROUND HIGHER THAN WE WERE AND WE NEEDED TO TURN AROUND. IF WE STARTED OUT WITH 3 MI VISIBILITY, THIS HAD TO BE 1 1/2 MI. WE WERE SCUD RUNNING. AS WE CAME IN CLOSE TO JUNCTION, MY INSTRUCTOR HAD ME REMOVE THE HOOD. MY FIRST REMARK WAS ABOUT THE BIG 'X' THAT WAS MOWED IN THE GRASS IN FRONT OF THE RWY AND THAT IT APPEARED THAT THE RWY WAS CLOSED. HE SAID THAT THERE WAS A TURF RWY THAT MUST BE OTS, AND SAID 'THIS IS MY TERRITORY, NOT TO WORRY.' AS WE APCHED CLOSER, I TOLD HIM THAT THE RWY HAD AN EXTREMELY ROUGH SURFACE THAT APPEARED TO BE DEEPLY GROOVED. AGAIN, HE BRUSHED ME OFF WITH A COMMENT ABOUT SMALL ARPTS HAVING VARIOUS SURFACES. ALL THE DIFFERENT AIRPLANES I WAS FLYING SEEMED TO HAVE ME DOING SOME LOUSY LNDGS BUT THIS TIME THE MAINS WERE SETTLING IN FIRST. AS SOON AS THEY TOUCHED, I KNEW WE WERE IN GRAVEL -- HVY GRAVEL. THE RWY WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. I HIT THE THROTTLE AND SAID 'WE'RE OUT OF HERE, THIS XXXXING RWY IS CLOSED!' AS WE CLRED THE AREA, HE COMMENTED 'THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT US.' HE WAS APPARENTLY WORRIED ABOUT SOMEONE DISCOVERING WHAT WE JUST DID. AT ANY RATE, WE MOVED ON TO ROCKSPRINGS. I NOTED THAT THE FUEL WAS LOW. HE SAID HE HAD INTENDED TO GET FUEL IN JUNCTION BUT WE'D BE FINE. WE HAD MOVED OUR WAY THROUGH CLOUDS AND WERE NOW ON TOP OF A STEADILY THICKENING LAYER. THERE WERE STILL HOLES BUT THEY WERE BECOMING FEWER AND FEWER. AGAIN, WE WERE NOT ON A FILED PLAN. WHEN I MENTIONED THE FACT THAT THE L TANK WAS EMPTY AND THE R SHOWED VERY LITTLE, HE SAID 'THAT SEEMS TO BE BOTHERING YOU, YOU KNOW WHAT WE DO ABOUT THAT?' HE REACHED ACROSS ME AND STUCK ONE OF HIS BUSINESS CARDS OVER THE FUEL GAUGE. AFTER RETURNING HOME, I PULLED OUT AN ARPT DIAGRAM OF JUNCTION. I WAS ABSOLUTELY SICKENED WHEN I SAW THE TURF STRIP XING THE RWY MIDFIELD NOT AT THE END. WE CALLED FLT SVC TO DISCOVER THAT THIS ARPT HAD BEEN CLOSED SINCE JUN/XA/99 AND WOULD BE CLOSED UNTIL SEP/99.

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.

Attributes
ACN	441910
Time
Date	199907
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : jct.airport
State Reference	TX
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	general aviation : instructional
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Navigation In Use	other ndb other vortac
Flight Phase	ground : preflight landing : roll
Route In Use	approach : instrument non precision
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	other
Function	instruction : trainee
Qualification	pilot : private
ASRS Report	441910
Person 2
Affiliation	other
Function	instruction : instructor
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : cfi pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	incursion : runway inflight encounter : vfr in imc non adherence : far non adherence : published procedure
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact none taken : anomaly accepted
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

An instructor pilot may have violated many FARS and made serious judgement errors during an instrument instruction flight. These events are noted in the letter to the sat area FSDO from the student pilot.