Narrative:

I was flying the morning traffic in a BH206 jet ranger helicopter. I was aware that there was going to be vip tfrs during the day; I did not believe they were going to be active during our morning flight. I was using the garmin pilot app for my phone; which usually displays tfrs graphically; however; in this instance the app was in error and not showing the information correctly. I checked the app several times before we departed and even remarked to my camera operator that I was surprised the tfr wasn't appearing yet. I did not check the FAA tfr site simply because I was already aware of the tfrs; it was an error in judgment to rely solely on the garmin pilot app.I was flying east when I accidentally penetrated the tfr. I didn't linger in the area only crossed through. It was before the vip was scheduled to be there. I received a radio call from another helicopter telling me that ZZZ tower wanted to talk to me. I contacted them on the radio; and then called them after landing when they informed me that I had violated the tfr. I am very cognizant of tfrs and they play a major part in my role as the pilot of a helicopter. I constantly double check with the control tower to see if any tfrs are going to be issued for any of the flights. I should have been more vigilant in checking for the times the tfrs were going to be active instead of relying on technology that sometimes fails. I would never knowingly violate the limits of a tfr; I have been a professional helicopter pilot for over 20 years and have never violated any regulations; and I'm very disappointed in myself for letting it happen now.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Helicopter pilot reported penetrating a TFR due to failure of his Garmin Pilot app to display the TFR.

Narrative: I was flying the morning traffic in a BH206 Jet ranger helicopter. I was aware that there was going to be VIP TFRs during the day; I did not believe they were going to be active during our morning flight. I was using the Garmin Pilot app for my phone; which usually displays TFRs graphically; however; in this instance the app was in error and not showing the information correctly. I checked the app several times before we departed and even remarked to my camera operator that I was surprised the TFR wasn't appearing yet. I did not check the FAA TFR site simply because I was already aware of the TFRs; it was an error in judgment to rely solely on the Garmin Pilot app.I was flying east when I accidentally penetrated the TFR. I didn't linger in the area only crossed through. It was before the VIP was scheduled to be there. I received a radio call from another helicopter telling me that ZZZ tower wanted to talk to me. I contacted them on the radio; and then called them after landing when they informed me that I had violated the TFR. I am very cognizant of TFRs and they play a major part in my role as the pilot of a helicopter. I constantly double check with the control tower to see if any TFRs are going to be issued for any of the flights. I should have been more vigilant in checking for the times the TFRs were going to be active instead of relying on technology that sometimes fails. I would never knowingly violate the limits of a TFR; I have been a professional helicopter pilot for over 20 years and have never violated any regulations; and I'm very disappointed in myself for letting it happen now.

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.