NASA · Aviation Safety Reporting System
PA-32 pilot reported the primary navigation and communication screen went black after takeoff resulting in possible altitude and airspeed deviations. The reporter continued to destination where the avionics shop determined water damage may have caused the malfunction.
What is ASRS?
The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.
Pilot narrative
Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the
reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time);
anonymization placeholders are ZZZ,
X, Y.
I was taking my plane to the avionics shop to have a fuel transducer rerouted. When I took off my primary radio's, a Garmin GTN650, screen went black. I proceeded to ZZZ and it was determined that the radio may have experienced water damage from an unknown source. The radio has been removed and is being repaired by the manufacturer. Upon return to the airport, it was noted that the flight aware had my altitude identified as being 8600 FT and my airspeed at about 200 knots. Neither was the case as I was at about 1600 FT and my aircraft was probably cruising at 120 knots. I never violated any airspace during the 10 to 15 minute flight to and from the avionics shop. It looks like my transponder may get its GPS from the inoperative radio.
NASA classification — Anomalies
- Aircraft Equipment Problem
- Deviation - Altitude
- Deviation - Speed
- Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural
NASA classification — Assessments
- Contributing Factors / Situations
- Aircraft · Human Factors
- Primary Problem
- Aircraft
ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.