The Pilots Who Couldn't Fly Straight

It turns out that the cause of yesterday's security scare in Washington D.C. was an instructor and his student pilot heading to a North Carolina airshow in a rented Cessna 150. The boys apparently got lost and wandered into Indian country around the Capital City and found themselves in handcuffs on a Frederick, MD runway. The latest word I have is that they were released and no charges will be brought against them, though I wouldn't be surprised if the FAA has something to say about it in the future.

I can relate a little bit to what happened. Back when I was a student pilot, one of the last things I had to do before I could take my license test was to complete my "long" cross-country solo flight. I don't remember the exact numbers now, but I was required to fly a three-legged trip with a certain minimum amount of nautical miles between each stop (I think it was 100). My flight went from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA to 29 Palms Airport to Brown Field in San Diego and back to John Wayne. Actually, because John Wayne was less than 100 nautical miles from Brown Field, I had to overfly John Wayne and land at Compton airport before returning to John Wayne. It was an all day trip in a plane that at best can only go about 100 miles per hour.

The first leg featured the worst turbulence I had ever flown in as I transitioned through the pass between Banning and Palm Springs. I slowed the plane down as much as I could and rode it out, though there were moments I considered abandoning the attempt for another day. Once clear of the mountains everything smoothed out and I was very much relieved.

As I neared the end of the second leg I could see San Diego off the right wing, but couldn't find Brown Field which is located right on the border. It was kind of a hazy day and visibility, though good enough for VFR flight, made it a little tough to see more than 10 miles out or so. I was very concerned that I might accidentally overfly the border which would cause me all kinds of grief with various government agencies..

I radioed the San Diego air traffic controllers and told them of my concern. The controller asked me to change the aircraft's transponder to code 7700, the emergency code, so he could pick my plane out of the radar clutter. I confirmed that that's what he wanted me to do, because I knew as soon as I dialed in 7700 and pressed the ident button, alarms were going to sound in every air traffic control center for 200 miles. He confirmed the instruction and for a brief moment my flight was illuminated with flashing lights and alarms on every radar console around. It's sort of like standing naked on 2nd base during the World Series.

Once he spotted me he had me change the setting back to 1200 (the code for VFR flight) and pointed out Brown Field to me which was basically right over the nose and about 5 miles away. I was flying in on a heading that was perpendicular to the runway which had made it hard to see. The rest of the day went smoothly.

I feel sorry for the boys in Washington that caused such a scare yesterday. I can certainly understand how a student could have screwed up that badly, but the instructor is going to have some 'splaining to do. Word of advice to all pilots - if F16's and Blackhawk helicopters start approaching your aircraft, perhaps it would be a good idea to turn around and go the other way.