Narrative:

Was patrolling power line for local energy company. Notified hutchison tower of location and intentions. Contacted hutchison tower, advised them of position north of airport, patrolling power line north of airport, transitioning to wsw on power line. Control tower cleared me to enter class D airspace, and asked how high. Response was approximately 100 ft AGL. Tower advised of a king air in area doing NDB approachs. I advised, 'looking.' mins later, I reported to tower that I had king air in sight. No response heard from tower. Possibly too low and far to receive tower response. Approximately 1 hour later, owner of aircraft notified that military, highway patrol and flight service was looking for me in the C172. Control tower believed that since they could not reach me by radio, that they feared I was down. They then sent out search and rescue. Have not heard from FAA or hutchison tower. Looking closer at sectional, I was never in class D airspace. The radio call to tower was more of a courtesy call. Tower did not advise or ask to report leaving the airspace. Have patrolled lines (power) for yrs. They usually don't ask to report when leaving the area. A few airplanes have gone down in kansas the past few weeks. I believe tower was over-anxious and panicked without justification. No airplane was reported down or missing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 PWR LINE PATROL PLT NOTIFIED BY ACFT OWNER WHILE INFLT OF HUT CTLR CONCERN THAT HE WAS 'DOWN,' APPARENTLY DUE TO LOSS OF COM WHILE PLT WAS TRANSITING HUT LCL AREA WHILE CONDUCTING LINE PATROL.

Narrative: WAS PATROLLING PWR LINE FOR LCL ENERGY COMPANY. NOTIFIED HUTCHISON TWR OF LOCATION AND INTENTIONS. CONTACTED HUTCHISON TWR, ADVISED THEM OF POS N OF ARPT, PATROLLING PWR LINE N OF ARPT, TRANSITIONING TO WSW ON PWR LINE. CTL TWR CLRED ME TO ENTER CLASS D AIRSPACE, AND ASKED HOW HIGH. RESPONSE WAS APPROX 100 FT AGL. TWR ADVISED OF A KING AIR IN AREA DOING NDB APCHS. I ADVISED, 'LOOKING.' MINS LATER, I RPTED TO TWR THAT I HAD KING AIR IN SIGHT. NO RESPONSE HEARD FROM TWR. POSSIBLY TOO LOW AND FAR TO RECEIVE TWR RESPONSE. APPROX 1 HR LATER, OWNER OF ACFT NOTIFIED THAT MIL, HWY PATROL AND FLT SVC WAS LOOKING FOR ME IN THE C172. CTL TWR BELIEVED THAT SINCE THEY COULD NOT REACH ME BY RADIO, THAT THEY FEARED I WAS DOWN. THEY THEN SENT OUT SEARCH AND RESCUE. HAVE NOT HEARD FROM FAA OR HUTCHISON TWR. LOOKING CLOSER AT SECTIONAL, I WAS NEVER IN CLASS D AIRSPACE. THE RADIO CALL TO TWR WAS MORE OF A COURTESY CALL. TWR DID NOT ADVISE OR ASK TO RPT LEAVING THE AIRSPACE. HAVE PATROLLED LINES (PWR) FOR YRS. THEY USUALLY DON'T ASK TO RPT WHEN LEAVING THE AREA. A FEW AIRPLANES HAVE GONE DOWN IN KANSAS THE PAST FEW WKS. I BELIEVE TWR WAS OVER-ANXIOUS AND PANICKED WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION. NO AIRPLANE WAS RPTED DOWN OR MISSING.

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.