We all know the old saying: flying is hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. What rarely gets mentioned are those other times, when we pilots get that uneasy feeling. Many of you will know what I’m talking about. For instance, you’re flying above inhospitable-looking terrain or in solid IMC when suddenly a low fuel pressure warning annunciator blinks on. You’re not terrified, but you’re certainly not bored any longer, either.
Something similar happened to me on a VFR round-robin flight in the New York metropolitan area recently. Touching down at my first stop, Sky Manor Airport (N40), and taxiing clear of the active, the pilot of a Cessna Skyhawk announced his departure from the runway on which I’d just landed. A moment later a helicopter pilot in the pattern keyed his mic and asked if the Cessna pilot was “aware of the TFR.” The departing pilot said affirmative, but he was eastbound and so the temporary flight restriction would be no factor.
So two of the three pilots operating at this airport knew about “the TFR.” Guess who was the odd man out?
Pulling into the parking area and shutting down the engine, I couldn’t help but get that uneasy feeling, especially after reading about Russ Munson’s run in with the TFR police when he busted one on Long Island last year.
I’d of course checked the TFRs for my area of flight before departure – but maybe, somehow I’d missed something. I powered on my iPhone and pulled up the FAA’s graphical TFR website and there it was: a Presidential TFR blanketing Philadelphia.
Since I wasn’t planning on flying near Philadelphia, I hadn’t bothered to check for TFRs that far south. But at some point during my early evening pleasure flight, I got the idea that it might be fun to overfly the towns of Lambertville, New Jersey, and New Hope, Pennsylvania, separated by a steel bridge spanning the Delaware River much nearer to Philly than the Big Apple. Then a little voice told me not to deviate from my original plan – and besides, nature called and I really wanted to land.
I’m glad I did. Flying over those two idyllic river towns would have put me just inside the TFR, triggering all kinds of alarms and probably causing fighter jets to scramble from nearby McGuire Air Force Base. My only consolation would have been that, since I was monitoring Guard frequency on 121.5 MHz, I would have been made aware of the infraction very quickly.
I had to wait until I got home that night to check my computer and see how I’d missed the Philadelphia TFR. Pulling up my WSI PilotBrief account and clicking to the Interactive page showing graphical TFRs, I saw the restricted area plain as day. I think I’d missed it earlier because, as I said, I wasn’t planning on flying near Philadelphia and, if I even did see it, I might have mistaken it for the omnipresent Washington, D.C., area ADIZ.
Who knows.
So, a few lessons learned, or at least reaffirmed: 1) You formulate a plan before ever leaving the ground for a reason; 2) you need to be truly prepared to alter the plan if the need arises; and 3) now that election season is upon us, check, double-check and triple-check those TFRs.
All Comments
Doesn't it just make you wish we lived in a free country? These TFRs are nothing more than the old rule that a commoner couldn't look at the Emperor. Nothing more, nothing less.
I guess we should be grateful it's not a beheading offense. Usually.
I'm a physician. That "uneasy feeling" has saved the lives of many of my patients. When you feel it, believe it and act on it. Never dismiss it. It's the only thing between you and oblivion.
What a lame remark by Thomas Boyle. Do you realize what a commandeered biz jet could do to Air Force One in flight or on the ground. When I took off from SDF on a day when GHW Bush was visiting Louisville, I was actually comforted to see a manned temporary anti-aircraft bunker 100 yards from either end of the plane. And I didn't even vote for the man.
Hi kymrbill,
I'm sorry you think my post lame. The list of reasonable-sounding excuses for a police state is potentially endless (and even as our freedoms evaporate, we seem to hear more and more of them). I could list them all day, but I won't.
The price of a free society is accepting reasonable risks. In a free society we would ask how realistic the threat is, and whether the proposed response is appropriate. Secure the target, yes. But shut down 3,000 square miles around it?
Thing is, those TFRs serve no protective purpose (although they do provide an easy way to track the President, which seems like a bad idea). The ostensible reason for them is to provide a secure zone, and yet no-one gets shot down for breaching one. Why? Because it would be obscene overkill: the odds that it's a real attack are minuscule. So the security forces don't shoot. Instead, they track down the offender after the fact, for what the powers that be deem suitable humiliation.
With the threat of sudden execution being empty (and thank heaven for that), we're left with a system for punishing Little People who approach the Emperor. And this is someone who is protected by the most powerful military on earth. He could grow a set.
that feeling may or may not have occurred to the pilot who crashed yesterday after take off from our airport - watsonville ca. He performed a classic here, that is trying to rise above the fog just at the end of the runway, probably did not ask for clearance to tops - the mooney waffled , stalled and crashed into the hospital next door. did he have time to push the nose over? did the horn go off? why did he not push the nose over - the oh so very sad thing is they were off to a family reunion with 3 additional innocent souls aboard, the wife and two teenage sons. Was witnessed and definitely pilot error - as usual. I have been flying right seat with my husband for 30 yrs ( can land our bonanza without assistance) and am always hyper alert for any lights, sounds or just feeling things aren't right. I keep my eyes pinned to the speedo and notice how quickly the speed can drop. Was he distracted, it seems the plane could have been overloaded but a pilot witness definitely said it was a departure stall. it was depressing looking at the wreckage a completely avoidable loss of innocent life. Pam Orisek, Santa Cruz, CA
