triple diversion in IMC

[coma24]

Last story as I get settled into the forums here. This one has some training benefit and is worth sharing, I think...

Last year, I took this trip (FlightAware map) from Russel County, KY (K24) up to Lincoln Park, NJ (N07). (note: the flight track on flightaware is strangely incomplete and has been truncated. It only shows the first approach and none of the vectoring that followed). The radar coverage shows the status of those systems when I reached the destination. You can see deviations enroute (one early one, one about half way through). Those were for the weather systems which are depicted well east of the course. At the time, those systems were on the course.

The forecast for the arrival was 1000 few and 2000 overcast, no biggie. I planned CDW as my plan B (alternate) and MMU as my hail mary. The departure went well, save for a bit of weaving to get around some buildups.

Upon arrival, the weather was 400 and 1'ish, which was not what was in the brochure! I shot the LOC RWY 22 into CDW (mins are 357' AGL), but the weather was updated to 200 and 1/4 just as I was inside the FAF (I kid you not).

Morristown (MMU) was calling 200-1 so I opted to go there. The ILS was out of service, though, so the controller assigned the RNAV (GPS) Z RWY 23 approach. That plan didn't last long (I don't have WAAS and knew without looking that the LNAV MDA was going to be well above 200' AGL).

So, off to Teterboro I went.

Here's the edited MP3 recording of the ATC interactions from http://www.liveatc.net. It captures my transmissions, but doesn't reflect how many other pilots were on frequency (for brevity). It was busy, though, because they had combined a few sectors in the TRACON that evening.

I was pretty much at capacity being SPIFR, in the soup, at night, without a trustworthy autopilot. When I say "in the soup", not only were the strobes off, but the position lights and landing light were bright enough to cause a distraction (that's a first for me). During the diversion to TEB, I'm trying to get the ATIS and am getting nowhere fast (much like I was during the arrival to CDW, except I had a bit more time there) because the radio is so busy. There's an interesting exchange about that in the recording.

I'm still trying to pull the plate in Foreflight when I get put onto a 130hdg for the ILS 19. I know the app clearance has to be coming soon, so I tell the controller I'm not ready and I get sent out west until I'm ready.

It's an interesting recording, and comments are welcome. There's not much I would do differently, other than be more proficient at pulling plates to unexpected fields in a pinch, a problem I have since solved. I had pre-loaded N07 and CDW approach plates, but nothing beyond that. Ideally, I would also have requested the delay vector at TEB sooner than I did, or been even more clear to the controller that I needed more time prior to shooting the approach at TEB.

KTEB 270151Z 00000KT 3SM BR OVC006 13/11 A2960
KTEB 270251Z 23005KT 3SM BR OVC004 13/11 A2959

I landed somewhere in between those two. The 3 mile report was generous...that mist really does a number on you.

Another thing that added to the workload was my inefficient panel configuration (can't use the HSI in the 6-pack for ILS/LOC/VOR approaches, it's talking to a Garmin 420 which is a GPS/COM, no NAV! I have to use the NAV2 CDI WAY on the left side of the panel). The HSI precesses at close to the legal limit, so it needs to be sync'd with the compass quite frequently. That, and with a 30kt crosswind shearing to calm at the surface, the heading I'd needed to fly on the ILS changes constantly in any case. As a result, I use the TRK figure on the Garmin 420 to see what my effective course is, and compare that (numerically) to the DTK on the approach. Processing numbers is more work than processing pictures, that's for sure. I need to get a Garmin 430 instead of the 420, and I need to overhaul the HSI.

That, and this is the first time I've run into a case where WAAS would've gotten me out of a pickle. I would've had a shot at getting into MMU.

Lastly, the enroute was fairly busy, avoiding the tops (ranging from 8-10k) due to potential icing, which is why I didn't call Flight Watch for an update. Normally, I do check with Flight Watch once or twice enroute. Had I done that, I would've known the weather prior to getting into the NY area, although, I still would've done the same thing based on those weather reports (400 ovc at CDW). It would've been less of a surprise, at least.

 

[beestforwardspeed]

That sounds like fun Keith! I was just thinking how in CT I missed the brunt of the LIFR by just 100-200nm (It was MVFR mostly). Good job on asking ATC for delaying vectors when not ready for the approach. I'm big on that!

You mentioned the tops at 8-10K and possible ice, but I seem to remember the freezing level was around 11K yesterday. Maybe not?

Too bad it all happened after dark so you couldn't get pics or video.

 

[Ted]

That area can definitely do things like that quickly. Forecasts are often wildly inaccurate. I remember once being told landing at LDJ that going missed was not an option, and then one other time when I did go missed and ended up at CDW, barely. Sounds like fun.

 

[azure]

WAAS is definitely a good thing to have. I needed it to get in at my destination my first trip in the soup a week after passing the checkride. They were using 27L at PTK with a reported 500 foot ceiling and the LOC BC was the default approach with a MDA of 446, a little too close for comfort. I asked for the RNAV instead (DA 200) and was less than 400 AGL before I saw the runway due to low forward vis near the bases.

I found your comment about it being easier to compare pictures than numbers interesting, since I do the DTK/TRK comparison all the time. Pictorially I wouldn't really notice 2 or 3 degrees away from vertical, but even that small of a difference is enough to take you off course in a few seconds when you're close in on a LOC or LPV approach.

 

[Rwsavory]

Sounds like both pilot and controller did excellent work here.

 

[SCCutler]

Good learning experience, and you're a hoss (that's a good thing down here) for (1) handling it all well, and (2) sharing.

I admit to being a weather ***** - I don't typically combine night and IMC - really don't like the interaction between the clouds and the lights (both on the plane and on the ground).

 

[flyingmoose]

NIce write up. Sometimes experience is gained even if you didn't plan on it. Making decisions and just "Making it happen" become mandatory sometimes.

 

[coma24]

Thanks, guys. One thing that I had in my favor is that in the past, I have intentionally found weather and flown to precision minimums in actual at night in that airplane. It helped that the training flight started at dusk, and on top (the easiest way to ease into that, psychologically). 3 approaches later, it was dark. Each missed still resulted in coming out on top (tops were around 2k'ish), so I had some time to breathe and regather each time (on the training flight, not this flight)

So, even though the adventure above wasn't planned, it wasn't my first time being exposed to minimums at night. I will say, that was some thick-ass cloud, though.

One other thing I neglected to mention that was a mistake. MMU was my plan C but I hadn't briefed it at all. I just assumed it was available and the ILS would be up (and that I wouldn't need MMU to begin with). As it turned out, I needed it, and it wasn't available. I wasted valuable time with the controller (who was generous with his time) attempting to go to MMU prior to going to TEB.

Lastly, one huge workload reduction with that busy radio would've been skipping picking up the ATIS completely, but I'm guessing that won't do that for liability. I assumed the radio would get quiet enough to pick up the ATIS at some point (it almost always does), which is why I didn't ask to leave the freq sooner, but in hindsight, that's what I should've done. It was getting stressful trying to pick it up, since it was prohibiting me from briefing the approach.

 

[comanchepilot]

The thing about this kind of really LIFR is that it is so variable and so transient . . . and you got caught in the 30 minutes when it went really low.

Sounds like decent ADM and also sounds like you need onboard wx to better plan cause it was crumping all the way up and you needed to know it to consider alternatives -

You also needed to know from the NOTAMS that the MMU ILS was TU before you needed it . . .

OTT - it seems like a decent challenge, you learned stuff - and got it down safely.

The two words that every pilots needs to use when needed are 'Stand By.' Might **** the controller off - but I'd rather have him/her miffed than you dead.

[you only have one radio?? Your audio panel does not have a speaker? And you can't put ATIS or GUARD on speaker while listening to the other radio on reduced volume while you get the essential info? - honest question - not a criticism . . . ]

 

[koehn]

A quick way to pull plates in ForeFlight is to go to the Plate tab and type in a minimum amount of information. "TEB" will get you all plates, diagrams, etc. for Teterboro; "TEB ILS" will get you only the ILS approaches; just tap the one you want. Likewise "TEB GPS" etc. This can really bail you out if you didn't set up a plate binder (or are landing someplace unexpected as in the OP).

 

[coma24]

Brad, I have since gotten much faster with ForeFlight, however, I didn't know about that shortcut for filtering approaches by type. Very nice! Thank you.

ComanchePilot, I'm happy to whip out "stand by" when needed, but there wasn't much use for it here. I was short of information in a few times, and wasn't yet ready to fly the approach other times, but in those cases, "stand by" would not have been the appropriate response. In all those cases, I needed to either solicit more information from ATC, or I needed to specifically tell them what I needed.

I do have two radios....but I don't have a speaker. So, it's headset or nothing. The controller was talking literally non-stop the entire time (as I said on the recording). All attempts to get the ATIS (which was massive due to taxiway closures) were futile. Ironically, I kept hearing the taxiways closures just fine, but couldn't get much else, including the atis code. Ultimately, I cried uncle and requested he either read me what I need, or he cut me loose so I could get it. He opted for the latter.

I routinely pick up ATIS on com2 over the headset because of the natural breaks that occur in the transmissions, or while enroute where there aren't typically many calls for you. This wasn't one of those cases, though.

 

[DJTorrente]

Last year, I took this trip (FlightAware map) from Russel County, KY (K24) up to Lincoln Park, NJ (N07). ...

I planned CDW as my plan B (alternate) and MMU as my hail mary.

One thought: you can put your thumb over all three of those airports on the terminal chart. I get using CDW for its LOC or MMU for its ILS as an alternate to N07 for a greater variety of lower approaches. But my thinking is if you're not getting in at either CDW or MMU, having the other as a third string alternate is not likely to be availing. Get out of dodge and go to HPN, or 'Go west, young man' to someplace less likely to be affected by the weather equally impacting both CDW and MMU. By the time you get on the ground, it may be clear to get back home.

The thing about this kind of really LIFR is that it is so variable and so transient . . .

I get that you're running an audible at that point on the tail end of long and challenging flight, and hope I could do as well as you did.

 

[coma24]

DJT, one thing a local CFII pointed out to me after the fact is that MMU sits in what is essentially a swamp. That's why its weather is frequently lower than the surrounding area. For that reason, if often makes a poor choice of alternate (to your point), because when it's pretty bad elsewhere, it can be considerably worse at MMU, to the point where it's at or below mins.

Flight planning gets awkward from a legal standpoint if you start planning alternates that are quite far away when you're already reaching the range limits of the aircraft. Practically speaking, if you arrive in the terminal area and find bad weather, you can request a clearance to anywhere you like (prior to wasting fuel shooting approaches at the local fields) to get out of dodge (as you said), but from a legal flight planning perspective, it doesn't work that way, as you know.

What you file as an alternate and where you go as an alternate can be different things (outside of lost comms).

As I was flying over Allentown (west of CDW) on the way in, that's where the weather started going south. I made a mental note of "if all else fails, I could go to Allentown," but things really have to be messed up to not be able to make it into MMU or TEB (ie. VV001 FG).

As you pointed out, I'm relying heavily on the lower mins with the greater variety of approaches. I'm ok with that unless I think there's a realistic chance of all of them being shutdown (or below the alternate minimums). Thanks for the input, though, and the kind words.

 

[comanchepilot]

Most of New Jersey sits in a swamp - mostly of its own making - so MMU is no different from CDW right next to the Hacky . . .

The takeaway here is that everytime you anticipate an IFR arrival at a destination and you are not in a flight director equipped double crewed airplane, a good rule of thumb is to take a look at ALL of the NOTAM for TU NAV services at airports surrounding your destination . . . or for a TFR.

If OBama is coming to Newark you may be able to use CDW but not MMU - or if you have 400 forecast and you need an ILS you are not even going to think about MMU if the GP is OTS.

Taking at least a quick scan of the notams for the arrival area puts the info into short term memory . .

 

[SCCutler]

...Ironically, I kept hearing the taxiways closures just fine, but couldn't get much else, including the atis code. Ultimately, I cried uncle and requested he either read me what I need, or he cut me loose so I could get it. He opted for the latter.
...

Man, that ALWAYS seems to be the case; you hear the same endless babble over and over, but when they get to the "meat," someone's bound to be talking. Very frustrating, and exacerbated by the simple reality that, in the conditions when you need the weather info the most, the controllers are also likely to be the busiest.

 

[coma24]

ST, it's worse than that...the controller had given me the pertinent info (ceiling and vis and altimeter) already. I just needed the winds, really. It was moot, though, because for CYA reasons, I'm pretty sure they won't let you get away with not having the ATIS.

The reality is, it's mostly 2 crew aircraft with digital ATIS capabilities flying into TEB (especially in that weather), so ATC doesn't view getting the ATIS as a big deal. It kinda was, under the circumstance.