Military helicopter enroute to an operational area entered a restricted area without appropriate cle...

Attributes
ACN	842012
Time
Date	200906
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Helicopter
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Air Traffic Control Military 14 Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 2400 Flight Crew Type 2000
Events
Anomaly	Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Narrative:

During a daylight training mission to a military oparea; for a training mission in a military helicopter. During the navigation portion of the flight; we mistakenly; and without intention; entered a restricted without permission enroute to the oparea. Upon realization of the mistake; we egressed the area and continued without incident or query to the oparea and completed the mission. Our radial match up and our GPS indications we perceived showed us outside the restricted area along with visual illusions of the far shore which looked like a cut out for an airfield which matched what I perceived on the chart. It was not until we saw the runway out the right side of the aircraft did we realize that we had entered restricted airspace. I briefed our command leadership of the issue; and discussed it in the wardroom with the other squadron pilots to prevent a recurrence.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Military helicopter enroute to an operational area entered a restricted area without appropriate clearance.

Narrative: During a daylight training mission to a military OPAREA; for a training mission in a military helicopter. During the NAV portion of the flight; we mistakenly; and without intention; entered a restricted without permission enroute to the OPAREA. Upon realization of the mistake; we egressed the area and continued without incident or query to the OPAREA and completed the mission. Our radial match up and our GPS indications we perceived showed us outside the restricted area along with visual illusions of the far shore which looked like a cut out for an airfield which matched what I perceived on the chart. It was not until we saw the runway out the right side of the aircraft did we realize that we had entered restricted airspace. I briefed our command leadership of the issue; and discussed it in the wardroom with the other squadron pilots to prevent a recurrence.

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.