A helicopter pilot reported having difficulty with his radios before entering the dc sfra; so he lan...

Narrative:

I failed to close my flight plan as well as landing at a point other than my filed point of termination. I was en route in a [helicopter]. The weather was VMC and I was on a VFR flight plan. As I approached the washington dc sfra (special flight rules area); I attempted to contact potomac approach to gain entry into the sfra. I was unable to reach them on my only VHF radio. Rather than penetrate the sfra without proper clearance; I landed the aircraft adjacent to a quarry. I was able to contact potomac via telephone and get assigned a discreet transponder code and radio frequency. I then took off and was able to get radio contact for my clearance into the sfra. However; the distraction of my difficulty with the radio; the additional process of selecting an appropriate landing area; and my unfamiliarity with the VFR route; combined with the additional landing and difficulty with the radio; caused me to become disoriented as to course to destination. I was navigating by pilotage only and had no navigational aids on board the aircraft. I now was getting concerned about fuel quantity; so I landed in a field. As it turns out; I had landed prior to entering the sfra. There I contacted a colleague to bring fuel so that I could complete the trip with the required fuel and reserve. While on the ground; I was contacted by ATC on my cell phone. They indicated that by my flight plan; I was overdue and they were trying to find me. I explained my situation and that there was no incident or accident damage to the aircraft. My original flight plan was then closed. I refueled and completed the trip with no further difficulty. Reviewing what happened; I realize that my initial inability to contact potomac was my failure to properly tune the VHF radio. I will not make that error again. Additionally; I had not flown that route before and found that it was a factor in my visual reference. My inexperience in cross-country flying in that congested area led to my difficulty. My corrective action is to remain engaged in cross-country training and to review the lesser-used items that can be part of communications more often.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A helicopter pilot reported having difficulty with his radios before entering the DC SFRA; so he landed in a field and called ATC on his cell. He continued toward the DC SFRA but became disoriented and landed again; failing to close his flight plan.

Narrative: I failed to close my flight plan as well as landing at a point other than my filed point of termination. I was en route in a [helicopter]. The weather was VMC and I was on a VFR flight plan. As I approached the Washington DC SFRA (Special Flight Rules Area); I attempted to contact Potomac Approach to gain entry into the SFRA. I was unable to reach them on my only VHF radio. Rather than penetrate the SFRA without proper clearance; I landed the aircraft adjacent to a quarry. I was able to contact Potomac via telephone and get assigned a discreet transponder code and radio frequency. I then took off and was able to get radio contact for my clearance into the SFRA. However; the distraction of my difficulty with the radio; the additional process of selecting an appropriate landing area; and my unfamiliarity with the VFR route; combined with the additional landing and difficulty with the radio; caused me to become disoriented as to course to destination. I was navigating by pilotage only and had no navigational aids on board the aircraft. I now was getting concerned about fuel quantity; so I landed in a field. As it turns out; I had landed prior to entering the SFRA. There I contacted a colleague to bring fuel so that I could complete the trip with the required fuel and reserve. While on the ground; I was contacted by ATC on my cell phone. They indicated that by my flight plan; I was overdue and they were trying to find me. I explained my situation and that there was no incident or accident damage to the aircraft. My original flight plan was then closed. I refueled and completed the trip with no further difficulty. Reviewing what happened; I realize that my initial inability to contact Potomac was my failure to properly tune the VHF radio. I will not make that error again. Additionally; I had not flown that route before and found that it was a factor in my visual reference. My inexperience in cross-country flying in that congested area led to my difficulty. My corrective action is to remain engaged in cross-country training and to review the lesser-used items that can be part of communications more often.

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.

Attributes
ACN	900393
Time
Date	201007
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	PCT.TRACON
State Reference	VA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Helicopter
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 23.6 Flight Crew Total 232.9 Flight Crew Type 220
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

A helicopter pilot reported having difficulty with his radios before entering the dc sfra; so he landed in a field and called ATC on his cell. He continued toward the dc sfra but became disoriented and landed again; failing to close his flight plan.