It was a little after noon on a cloudy December day when a B36TC Bonanza with five aboard climbed out of Baker City, in northeastern Oregon, bound for Butte, Montana, 234 nm away. A few minutes after takeoff the pilot called Salt Lake Center to activate his IFR flight plan. He was cleared direct to the Donnelly VOR (DNJ), then via Victor 121 at 13,000 feet.
Fifteen minutes later, when the Bonanza was a few miles past Donnelly, the controller noticed that it was not on the airway. He provided the customary nudge: “N36ML, just confirm you’re level 13,000, established on the airway Victor 121.”
