A C182 pilot cancelled IFR with ATC prior to landing; but he did not close out his flight plan after...

Attributes
ACN	1245419
Time
Date	201503
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach Landing
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 11 Flight Crew Total 1130 Flight Crew Type 1000
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural FAR

Narrative:

IFR flight terminated just after midnight. The tower and the approach services were both closed. Center provided GPS approach to runway 1. I monitored the local frequency until on final approach and then recontacted center with my tail number and requested cancellation of IFR flight in the air. Center responded; and I believed that my IFR flight was cancelled. The landing was normal. One hour later I was contacted by the local police who were sent to find the pilot of a missing aircraft. I called 1-800-wxbrief and they relayed the flight plan closure to center and told me that no additional action was required.in the future; when landing at an untowered (or tower closed) airport; I will make extra effort to communicate an IFR flight plan closure and make sure that I definitely am told that IFR cancellation is received.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C182 pilot cancelled IFR with ATC prior to landing; but he did not close out his flight plan after landing. ATC requested that local police contact the pilot to verify his well-being.

Narrative: IFR flight terminated just after midnight. The tower and the approach services were both closed. Center provided GPS approach to RWY 1. I monitored the local frequency until on final approach and then recontacted center with my tail number and requested cancellation of IFR flight in the air. Center responded; and I believed that my IFR flight was cancelled. The landing was normal. One hour later I was contacted by the local police who were sent to find the pilot of a missing aircraft. I called 1-800-wxbrief and they relayed the flight plan closure to center and told me that no additional action was required.In the future; when landing at an untowered (or tower closed) airport; I will make extra effort to communicate an IFR flight plan closure and make sure that I definitely am told that IFR cancellation is received.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.