There’s nothing quite like the realization that you may not be where you think you are on a cross-country flight. It doesn’t happen all at once—more of a creeping sense of dread when the checkpoints you’re scanning for outside don’t match up to the ones on your sectional chart. The giant lake that was supposed to be to the left of your course doesn’t appear. The railroad tracks you carefully circled on the chart are overgrown with trees and brush, so you can’t find them. The little town with the race track from the air looks more like a big town with no race track. Something’s wrong.
The bad news: Getting lost in an airplane is serious. You could run out of fuel, wander into restricted airspace, or encounter bad weather or unfriendly terrain while trying to find your way to your destination. The good news? Ample help is available. So take a deep breath, fly the airplane, and follow this easy-to-remember set of procedures, commonly called “the four Cs.”
Electronic aids
If you know your general location, use nearby VOR stations to determine your location. Assuming a VOR frequency is loaded on nav one, find the radial from that station by centering the course deviation indicator with a From indication. Draw a line on your sectional from that station on that radial. Tune in a second VOR and repeat. (This can be easily done on a second nav receiver, but you don’t need two.) The point at which the lines intersect is where you are. It seems unlikely that a pilot with a GPS would get off course, but pushing “NRST” brings up a selection of airports close to your position.
Stay the course
Tips to keep you from getting lost
• Use flight following.
• Don’t rely on a single source of navigation. Back up GPS by tuning in VORs, and vice versa.
• Choose checkpoints that are no more than 25 nautical miles apart.
• Invest in a tablet that will give you GPS and all your charts.
1. Climb
A higher altitude gets you a better view of landmarks. It also helps with radio and navigation reception, as well as radar coverage. Maintain your original heading.
2. Communicate (call for help)
If you’re receiving VFR traffic advisories (flight following), ask the controller to suggest a heading. Otherwise, the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge recommends that you contact any available facility using the frequencies found on your sectional chart. You can also try a flight service station on the universal frequency 122.2 MHz. If the situation becomes threatening, use 121.5 MHz and set the airplane’s transponder to 7700. If your airplane has a GPS, try the Nearest ATC frequency feature.
3. Confess
Tell the controller you’re lost and you need assistance. She will give you a unique transponder code in order to locate you on her radar screen.
4. Comply
Do what you’re told. Assistance may come in the form of radar vectors or direction-finding assistance.
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