Narrative:

I received a weather briefing online about an hour before departure and then called flight service for an update briefing about 20 minutes before takeoff. In the update briefing I specifically requested any notams or tfr's. As best as I remember; I was told there were no tfr's and just a couple of local notams at my departure (home) airport; but none at my destination. It was a clear day and the 1.2 hour flight was smooth and uneventful. There was no other traffic on the CTAF at this non-towered field; so I made the normal radio calls in the pattern and landed on runway 6. I had flown to 60J several times before; but had not been there for a year or so. After landing a bit longer than usual; I looked for a turnoff but was surprised to see a yellow X at a taxiway entrance. Since I had not been briefed about a closed taxiway (and the field did not have an AWOS or ASOS); I became momentarily flustered. In my interest to clear the runway as soon as possible; I entered a portion of the closed taxiway briefly instead of immediately back-taxiing on the runway. With hindsight; I would have made a 180 degree turn on the runway to look for traffic and made a radio call to back-taxi on runway 6. I should also note that there were no physical barriers at the taxiway entrance; which I later researched in the airman's information manual (aim) and found that barriers are only recommended. Another reason for my confusion is that there was not any construction equipment or evidence of construction activity anywhere at the airport. I later found out that the narrow taxiway had been marked as closed because of the proximity of trees to the edge of the taxiway. These trees are expected to be trimmed or cut down at some point. Although safety was not directly compromised; I am concerned that my attempts to gather NOTAM information prior to my flight were not effective. I don't think I missed a NOTAM about taxiway closure at 60J from either my computer or FSS briefings. I also looked online today and didn't see a NOTAM for 60J.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A general aviation pilot reported entering a close taxiway at 60J because he was not provided an applicable NOTAM during Flight Service briefing.

Narrative: I received a weather briefing online about an hour before departure and then called Flight Service for an update briefing about 20 minutes before takeoff. In the update briefing I specifically requested any NOTAMs or TFR's. As best as I remember; I was told there were no TFR's and just a couple of local NOTAMs at my departure (home) airport; but none at my destination. It was a clear day and the 1.2 hour flight was smooth and uneventful. There was no other traffic on the CTAF at this non-towered field; so I made the normal radio calls in the pattern and landed on Runway 6. I had flown to 60J several times before; but had not been there for a year or so. After landing a bit longer than usual; I looked for a turnoff but was surprised to see a yellow X at a taxiway entrance. Since I had not been briefed about a closed taxiway (and the field did not have an AWOS or ASOS); I became momentarily flustered. In my interest to clear the runway as soon as possible; I entered a portion of the closed taxiway briefly instead of immediately back-taxiing on the runway. With hindsight; I would have made a 180 degree turn on the runway to look for traffic and made a radio call to back-taxi on Runway 6. I should also note that there were no physical barriers at the taxiway entrance; which I later researched in the Airman's Information Manual (AIM) and found that barriers are only recommended. Another reason for my confusion is that there was not any construction equipment or evidence of construction activity anywhere at the airport. I later found out that the narrow taxiway had been marked as closed because of the proximity of trees to the edge of the taxiway. These trees are expected to be trimmed or cut down at some point. Although safety was not directly compromised; I am concerned that my attempts to gather NOTAM information prior to my flight were not effective. I don't think I missed a NOTAM about taxiway closure at 60J from either my computer or FSS briefings. I also looked online today and didn't see a NOTAM for 60J.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.