Narrative:

I sent my student on a solo cross country flight. I checked the weather [and] found it to be few-scattered around 2;000 along their route. I looked at the trend of the metars; looking back 5 hours; and got the impression conditions were improving. I wrote the cross country endorsement with a limitation of ceiling more than 4;000 ft; and told him it was ok to stay above few or scattered clouds. He took off (flight block from 10-13). Some time after I met another student of mine; whom I had sent on the same cross country flight at the same time; he had turned back approximately abeam mmv; where he said there was an overcast layer [at] 2;200. He lost flight following descending to get below clouds; and decided to come back. I asked him if he had heard my other student on the same frequencies; but he hadn't. At this time I checked the company GPS tracking system to find out where the first student was. He seemed to be in close proximity of cvo; and I decided there was not much I could do; and I went out on another flight with another student. The student came back safe; but I did not see him anymore that day. I checked his track on the company GPS tracking system; and found out he had been at a low altitude around the salem area; and he had busted salem class delta airspace. I called him and asked what frequencies he had been using after he lost flight following; and specifically if he had been talking to salem tower. My first impression was that he had been talking to mmv and 7s5 CTAF's. He now tells me he has been talking to cascade approach; though I suspect he had been handed off from cascade approach without realizing it. I do not know if cascade approach has radar coverage at 1;500 ft MSL around salem airport. The reason I sent the students was that I thought the weather was improving; and even if it didn't; I would be comfortable with them going over a few scattered clouds. I talked them through the endorsement and pointed out that they could not continue flying if there was a layer of clouds (specifying broken or ovc) lower than 4;000 ft. As they both reached the lower than forecast weather; one student decided to come back; and I gave him praise for his decision making. The other student kept on going; descending below the clouds. I have talked to the student after the incident; and shown him the company GPS tracking system that shows him inside class D at sle. The student understood that he had done something wrong; and I do not think the student will ever attempt anything like this again.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Instructor and student describe the events surrounding a solo student cross country that continues into cloud coverage less than prescribed by the solo endorsement. Class D airspace may have been entered without a clearance.

Narrative: I sent my student on a solo cross country flight. I checked the weather [and] found it to be few-scattered around 2;000 along their route. I looked at the trend of the METARs; looking back 5 hours; and got the impression conditions were improving. I wrote the cross country endorsement with a limitation of ceiling more than 4;000 FT; and told him it was ok to stay above few or scattered clouds. He took off (flight block from 10-13). Some time after I met another student of mine; whom I had sent on the same cross country flight at the same time; he had turned back approximately abeam MMV; where he said there was an overcast layer [at] 2;200. He lost flight following descending to get below clouds; and decided to come back. I asked him if he had heard my other student on the same frequencies; but he hadn't. At this time I checked the company GPS tracking system to find out where the first student was. He seemed to be in close proximity of CVO; and I decided there was not much I could do; and I went out on another flight with another student. The student came back safe; but I did not see him anymore that day. I checked his track on the company GPS tracking system; and found out he had been at a low altitude around the Salem area; and he had busted Salem Class Delta airspace. I called him and asked what frequencies he had been using after he lost flight following; and specifically if he had been talking to Salem Tower. My first impression was that he had been talking to MMV and 7S5 CTAF's. He now tells me he has been talking to Cascade Approach; though I suspect he had been handed off from Cascade Approach without realizing it. I do not know if Cascade Approach has radar coverage at 1;500 FT MSL around Salem airport. The reason I sent the students was that I thought the weather was improving; and even if it didn't; I would be comfortable with them going over a few scattered clouds. I talked them through the endorsement and pointed out that they could not continue flying if there was a layer of clouds (specifying BKN or OVC) lower than 4;000 FT. As they both reached the lower than forecast weather; one student decided to come back; and I gave him praise for his decision making. The other student kept on going; descending below the clouds. I have talked to the student after the incident; and shown him the company GPS tracking system that shows him inside Class D at SLE. The student understood that he had done something wrong; and I do not think the student will ever attempt anything like this again.

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.