Narrative:

Upon returning to mmu from an instructional flight with a student holder of a private pilot certificate in gliders (but no logged time in asel); I was instructed by morristown tower to phone newark tower; who claimed that I had flown within five miles of ewr at altitudes from 500 to 1;600 ft MSL; based on tagging my radar return as I returned to morristown. He asked if I had listened to newark ATIS (I hadn't) and told me the ILS 11 approach was in use; alleging I had transgressed upon the final approach course (I spotted more than one commercial aircraft overhead; making the approach). As it turned out; I had in fact made this latter incursion; while yet operating perfectly legally the entire time. My student had requested an overflight for photos of a golf course in summit; nj. This location is depicted on the new york terminal area chart and is; and was known to me to be; close to an inner ring of the new york class B airspace where the class B floor drops from 1;800 ft to 500 ft within one mile toward the east; and to 1;500 ft within one mile toward the south. It is also; significantly; within the lateral bounds of the ILS 11 localizer course and; while outside the final approach fix (jeeno intersection); it is inside both the intermediate fix (jarit) and the radar-vectoring turn-on point. Being very sensitive to the proximity of this airspace; I had kept a careful watch on my indicated altitude; which at all relevant times was between 1;200 and 1;400 ft; and on my location as depicted on the garmin GNS 430 moving map; which at all times was outside the boundaries depicted on that map. The next day I received a follow-up phone call from newark tower. The controller and his supervisor reviewed the radar track tape that night and determined that there had not been an incursion after all; that I'd been clear of the class B at all times. (Incidentally; there had been a helicopter beneath me whom they were working; and who had triggered a tis alert on my GNS-430; and they had had two recent incursions similar to my non-incursion.) he pointed out that even though it's legal to be there without talking to anyone; there's a possibility of wake turbulence upsets from jets on the ILS 11; who are authorized to be at 1;600 ft; 200 ft lower than the class B floor. It seems to me that there's a greater hazard from the possibility of midair collisions due to the distinctive airspace structure in this area. As far as I can determine; this is the only area in the new york class B vicinity where a final approach course to a primary airport lies outside the class B airspace. Even a conscientious pilot operating VFR could find himself in direct conflict with an airliner at a high-workload portion of its landing pattern. I might easily have done so if I hadn't been in the habit of building in generous altitude margins from the boundaries. These hazards could be ameliorated in several ways. Pilots could: (1) build in additional lateral and vertical margins when operating close to class B boundaries; (2) contact and/or monitor the controlling agency when operating in close proximity to class B boundaries; even though not required; (3) listen to nearby airports' ATIS. The FAA could: (1) extend the class B boundary laterally and/or in altitude; (2) alter the ILS 11 so it lies within the existing class B boundaries; (3) implement a radar tracking patch that warns of probable incursions and tags actual ones; to remove the human error element from manual radar tagging.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DA20 Instructor pilot is wrongly accused of entering EWR Class B and during the discussion with ATC it is learned that Air Carrier pilots may legally be up to 200 FT below the floor of the Class B during the ILS 11 at EWR.

Narrative: Upon returning to MMU from an instructional flight with a student holder of a private pilot certificate in gliders (but no logged time in ASEL); I was instructed by Morristown Tower to phone Newark Tower; who claimed that I had flown within five miles of EWR at altitudes from 500 to 1;600 FT MSL; based on tagging my radar return as I returned to Morristown. He asked if I had listened to Newark ATIS (I hadn't) and told me the ILS 11 approach was in use; alleging I had transgressed upon the final approach course (I spotted more than one commercial aircraft overhead; making the approach). As it turned out; I had in fact made this latter incursion; while yet operating perfectly legally the entire time. My student had requested an overflight for photos of a golf course in Summit; NJ. This location is depicted on the New York Terminal Area Chart and is; and was known to me to be; close to an inner ring of the New York Class B airspace where the Class B floor drops from 1;800 FT to 500 FT within one mile toward the east; and to 1;500 FT within one mile toward the south. It is also; significantly; within the lateral bounds of the ILS 11 localizer course and; while outside the final approach fix (JEENO Intersection); it is inside both the intermediate fix (JARIT) and the radar-vectoring turn-on point. Being very sensitive to the proximity of this airspace; I had kept a careful watch on my indicated altitude; which at all relevant times was between 1;200 and 1;400 FT; and on my location as depicted on the Garmin GNS 430 moving map; which at all times was outside the boundaries depicted on that map. The next day I received a follow-up phone call from Newark Tower. The Controller and his supervisor reviewed the radar track tape that night and determined that there had not been an incursion after all; that I'd been clear of the Class B at all times. (Incidentally; there had been a helicopter beneath me whom they were working; and who had triggered a TIS alert on my GNS-430; and they had had two recent incursions similar to my non-incursion.) He pointed out that even though it's legal to be there without talking to anyone; there's a possibility of wake turbulence upsets from jets on the ILS 11; who are authorized to be at 1;600 FT; 200 FT lower than the Class B floor. It seems to me that there's a greater hazard from the possibility of midair collisions due to the distinctive airspace structure in this area. As far as I can determine; this is the only area in the New York Class B vicinity where a final approach course to a primary airport lies outside the Class B airspace. Even a conscientious pilot operating VFR could find himself in direct conflict with an airliner at a high-workload portion of its landing pattern. I might easily have done so if I hadn't been in the habit of building in generous altitude margins from the boundaries. These hazards could be ameliorated in several ways. Pilots could: (1) Build in additional lateral and vertical margins when operating close to Class B boundaries; (2) Contact and/or monitor the controlling agency when operating in close proximity to Class B boundaries; even though not required; (3) Listen to nearby airports' ATIS. The FAA could: (1) Extend the Class B boundary laterally and/or in altitude; (2) Alter the ILS 11 so it lies within the existing Class B boundaries; (3) Implement a radar tracking patch that warns of probable incursions and tags actual ones; to remove the human error element from manual radar tagging.

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.