Should I NASA this

C

clestudentpilot

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, I was flying today and had someone with me who needed to do some aerial photography. I was under Class B airspace, in which the base lies, in that area, at 1100 AGL, so I didn't have much room for error (I was unable to get a Class B clearance, although I should have queried further to try to get it), because it is a populated area. I was at 1000 AGL, and did a steep turn for some of the video footage, and unfortunately at the end of the turns I got to about 900 AGL. Is this a situation where I should file a NASA report, or just learn from my mistakes and not do it again? Also, am I correct in saying the NASA forms, although your name is on it, do remain completely anonymous, and filing one could in no way come back to bite me in any way?

Thanks in advance!
 
The tolerance was to fly between 1,000 and 1,100 AGL? I would of had the for prefilled before takeoff.
 
Personally, I would not. Are you in something with a radar altimeter to know that you truly went below 1000AGL? That is just me though.
 
The filing of a NASA form, unless you violate the confidentiality yourself by not following the instructions, can't come back to bite you in the rear.

The quasi-immunity should be a secondary consideration. The purpose of the program is to collect and disbures safety information. IMO, if, as you say, you "just learn from my mistakes" and you think that this is the type of mistake others might make with more severe consequences, you have a moral obligation to the pilot community to report the event.
 
clestudentpilot said:
I wasn't, but I also wasn't 1000 AGL in a populated area
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Ah, sorry I didn't put that together from your original post. As for filing a NASA report, there is no harm in doing so, but IMO I don't think it's necessary. How long were you below 1000 AGL?
 
I highly doubt you will be hearing from the FAA about it, if that's why you are thinking about filing a NASA. However, like midlife said, if you think it's something that could have adversely affected safety, it is not a bad idea to go ahead with it.
 
tjvpa28 said:
I highly doubt you will be hearing from the FAA about it, if that's why you are thinking about filing a NASA. However, like midlife said, if you think it's something that could have adversely affected safety, it is not a bad idea to go ahead with it.
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No, I'll be honest, I don't think safety was in any way compromised. Also, after looking at the regulations again, I think the area I was at may have fallen under the "other than congested areas" so I only need 500' AGL. Haha, it would be nice if we had a definition to congested areas. I was not over the "congested area of a city, town, or settlement." While there were houses below me, it was not even close to the "congested are of the city"
 
Without even reading the OP, yes.

Fill one out and send it in. Maybe they can gather data from your flight and figure out something that's wrong to improve safety. Maybe it's a common error. Maybe it doesn't matter.

Just fill one out. Do it online even! That's how I do all of mine. Hopefully they're using those to improve safety for everyone. So, with that in mind, any time you think "should I?" the answer is "yes".

-mini
 
Not sure if the yellow area on the sectional is a "congested area" for the purpose of 91.119, but probably a good guideline.
 
It is close to a yellow area, it may have been over...not completely sure, it's right on the edge. OK, well I think I will file one to play it safe, I guess I just wanted to make sure that a.)I'm not crazy for even thinking to file one, and b.)If somehow I do get in any trouble for what happened, that filing one won't hurt me in any way, it may even help both me, and the pilot community.
 
Your were 900 feet AGL above ground level and you know that by the field elevation of a the closest airport?

You had thin margins to to begin with, it wasn't the best situation that you put your self into if you are worried about 100 feet.
If you are thinking about doing the NASA form for immunity, I'd say don't even worry about it, I am almost positive that the cops won't be at the door in the morning.
There are lots of factors, altimeter error, pressure error and you probably really don't know the exact elevation of the ground you were shooting.
 
Douglas said:
Your were 900 feet AGL above ground level and you know that by the field elevation of a the closest airport?

You had thin margins to to begin with, it wasn't the best situation that you put your self into if you are worried about 100 feet.
If you are thinking about doing the NASA form for immunity, I'd say don't even worry about it, I am almost positive that the cops won't be at the door in the morning.
There are lots of factors, altimeter error, pressure error and you probably really don't know the exact elevation of the ground you were shooting.
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Yes, I did go by the elevation of the closest airport. I'll be honest, I don't think filing one will help safety or other pilots in any way. I should have tried harder to get a Class B clearance, and when I could, just scrapped the video shoot for the guy, and tried it another time. I am kind of upset with myself that I didn't do that, but there is nothing I can do about that now, other than learn from my mistake. If there was any true mistake here, it was a lapse in judgement on my part. I understand what you are saying about the errors involved, not to mention, as I said above, this was not the congested area of the city I was flying over (by city, I just mean the borders of the city). It was right on the edge of a yellow area on a sectional, but it isn't "the congested area of a city" so reading the exact wording of 91.119, I would say I actually only needed to be 500' AGL. The city I was over has a huge mall with houses surrounding this mall, and I would call that the "congested area of a city" and straight line distance, I was close to 2 miles from this mall.

I guess I just wanted advise, and this place is great for that. I was tagged up on radar during the video, because I was talking to approach. Like I said, safety was in no way compromised. The only thing compromised was my judgement haha. Due to that, I don't think a NASA form would do anything, other than immunity for me, but at the same time, as you said, I may have actually been 1000'AGL due to errors, and the fact that I don't know the exact elevation there, plus the fact, by the wording of 91.119, I think I actually only had to be 500' AGL anyway.
 
What mini said. There's no reason not to. I send them in all the time, it takes less than 5 minutes to do online. You ask if it could come back to bite you (the quick answer is no), but it certainly couldn't be any worse than admitting you broke a reg on a public forum :)
 
XcalibeR said:
What mini said. There's no reason not to. I send them in all the time, it takes less than 5 minutes to do online. You ask if it could come back to bite you (the quick answer is no), but it certainly couldn't be any worse than admitting you broke a reg on a public forum :)
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:yeahthat: I HIGHLY doubt ATC was even paying attention to your altitude below Bravo and therefore don't think you had anything to worry about. But, now that it's out for the whole wide world to see, file one anyways.
 
minitour said:
Without even reading the OP, yes.
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A NASA form won't come back to bite you; it may help you if you're violated (which, by the way, I wouldn't really be worried about in this case). Most importantly, it will provide data to improve safety for all pilots.

If you're ever wondering if you should file a NASA report, the answer is, "Yes."
 
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