Narrative:

During our van ride back from dinner, our passenger advised us via cell phone she wanted to fly to jyo instead of dulles. We believe she noticed the WX was getting worse and thought it would be easier to land at leesburg instead of dulles and drive over to dulles. Since our flight plan had already been filed to dulles, we had to refile to leesburg, va. Upon arrival to the aircraft, we received clearance to leesburg and was advised we would experience possibly a 2-HR delay due to intrail spacing out of lga. I was ok with this and called the FBO, and ordered more fuel to wait it out -- possibly on a taxiway. After approximately 40 mins to 1 hour on a taxiway, we were cleared for takeoff to leesburg, va. On climb out from lga, the autoslat light on the instrument panel illuminated. We ran the checklist and decided it would be safer to land at dulles, which has more and longer runways than leesburg just in case, since this was a secondary flight control problem. We advised ZNY of the change in destination to dulles, and on the next ZNY frequency, controller asked us to contact operations manager nyc via phone. Upon contacting ZDC, we were told to contact potomac controller via phone. The slats and flaps operated normally and we landed at dulles without any assistance from ATC. We did not request any special assistance or handling. Upon speaking to nyc operations manager mr X and then to mr Y, they seemed to understand our slat problem and why we changed destinations in the air. However, potomac manager mr Z thought we were circumventing the ATC system just to land at dulles instead of leesburg. We explained our automatic slat problem and we required a longer runway to land, but he was insistent that we circumvented the system while hundreds of other aircraft experienced hours and hours of delays to arrival traffic into dulles. He said he will forward his report to the local FAA at dulles for a possible investigation. I do not think we could have avoided this occurrence since we had a safety issue. Maintenance was notified after we landed and a logbook entry was made in the aircraft logbook for the autoslat light.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A G2000 FLT CREW IS TAKEN TO TASK BY SUPVR AT PCT TRACON WHEN THE PIC CHANGES HIS DEST FROM JYO TO IAD BECAUSE OF ACFT PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS WITH A POSSIBLE AUTOSLAT PROB REQUIRING LONGER RWYS.

Narrative: DURING OUR VAN RIDE BACK FROM DINNER, OUR PAX ADVISED US VIA CELL PHONE SHE WANTED TO FLY TO JYO INSTEAD OF DULLES. WE BELIEVE SHE NOTICED THE WX WAS GETTING WORSE AND THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASIER TO LAND AT LEESBURG INSTEAD OF DULLES AND DRIVE OVER TO DULLES. SINCE OUR FLT PLAN HAD ALREADY BEEN FILED TO DULLES, WE HAD TO REFILE TO LEESBURG, VA. UPON ARR TO THE ACFT, WE RECEIVED CLRNC TO LEESBURG AND WAS ADVISED WE WOULD EXPERIENCE POSSIBLY A 2-HR DELAY DUE TO INTRAIL SPACING OUT OF LGA. I WAS OK WITH THIS AND CALLED THE FBO, AND ORDERED MORE FUEL TO WAIT IT OUT -- POSSIBLY ON A TXWY. AFTER APPROX 40 MINS TO 1 HR ON A TXWY, WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF TO LEESBURG, VA. ON CLBOUT FROM LGA, THE AUTOSLAT LIGHT ON THE INST PANEL ILLUMINATED. WE RAN THE CHKLIST AND DECIDED IT WOULD BE SAFER TO LAND AT DULLES, WHICH HAS MORE AND LONGER RWYS THAN LEESBURG JUST IN CASE, SINCE THIS WAS A SECONDARY FLT CTL PROB. WE ADVISED ZNY OF THE CHANGE IN DEST TO DULLES, AND ON THE NEXT ZNY FREQ, CTLR ASKED US TO CONTACT OPS MGR NYC VIA PHONE. UPON CONTACTING ZDC, WE WERE TOLD TO CONTACT POTOMAC CTLR VIA PHONE. THE SLATS AND FLAPS OPERATED NORMALLY AND WE LANDED AT DULLES WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE FROM ATC. WE DID NOT REQUEST ANY SPECIAL ASSISTANCE OR HANDLING. UPON SPEAKING TO NYC OPS MGR MR X AND THEN TO MR Y, THEY SEEMED TO UNDERSTAND OUR SLAT PROB AND WHY WE CHANGED DESTS IN THE AIR. HOWEVER, POTOMAC MGR MR Z THOUGHT WE WERE CIRCUMVENTING THE ATC SYS JUST TO LAND AT DULLES INSTEAD OF LEESBURG. WE EXPLAINED OUR AUTO SLAT PROB AND WE REQUIRED A LONGER RWY TO LAND, BUT HE WAS INSISTENT THAT WE CIRCUMVENTED THE SYS WHILE HUNDREDS OF OTHER ACFT EXPERIENCED HRS AND HRS OF DELAYS TO ARR TFC INTO DULLES. HE SAID HE WILL FORWARD HIS RPT TO THE LCL FAA AT DULLES FOR A POSSIBLE INVESTIGATION. I DO NOT THINK WE COULD HAVE AVOIDED THIS OCCURRENCE SINCE WE HAD A SAFETY ISSUE. MAINT WAS NOTIFIED AFTER WE LANDED AND A LOGBOOK ENTRY WAS MADE IN THE ACFT LOGBOOK FOR THE AUTOSLAT LIGHT.

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.