Unauthorized penetration of airspace while IMC in VFR flight.

Attributes
ACN	159671
Time
Date	199010
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : hlg
State Reference	WV
Altitude	msl bound lower : 2200 msl bound upper : 2200
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : pit tower : hlg tracon : alb
Operator	general aviation : corporate
Make Model Name	Helicopter
Flight Phase	cruise other cruise other
Route In Use	enroute : direct
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : cfi pilot : commercial pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 80 flight time total : 11000 flight time type : 50
ASRS Report	159671
Events
Anomaly	inflight encounter : weather inflight encounter : vfr in imc non adherence : far non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : exited penetrated airspace none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Helicopter flight (cruise) following highway. Encountered low ceiling fog bank. Pulled up into clouds and turned toward bellaire VOR (air) on top of thin layer. Descended in a few mins through break in clouds and continued flight VFR. May have penetrated wheeling-ohio control zone, but not sure. Main effort was to resume VFR as soon as possible. Lowest MEA was 3000' (published on charts). My helicopter was at 2200' maximum. Problem arose because I was going too fast. WX was contributing factor. I discovered the problem because trapped between hills. I pulled up to avoid the hills to correct. Should have turned around sooner!

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: UNAUTH PENETRATION OF AIRSPACE WHILE IMC IN VFR FLT.

Narrative: HELI FLT (CRUISE) FOLLOWING HWY. ENCOUNTERED LOW CEILING FOG BANK. PULLED UP INTO CLOUDS AND TURNED TOWARD BELLAIRE VOR (AIR) ON TOP OF THIN LAYER. DSNDED IN A FEW MINS THROUGH BREAK IN CLOUDS AND CONTINUED FLT VFR. MAY HAVE PENETRATED WHEELING-OHIO CTL ZONE, BUT NOT SURE. MAIN EFFORT WAS TO RESUME VFR ASAP. LOWEST MEA WAS 3000' (PUBLISHED ON CHARTS). MY HELI WAS AT 2200' MAX. PROB AROSE BECAUSE I WAS GOING TOO FAST. WX WAS CONTRIBUTING FACTOR. I DISCOVERED THE PROB BECAUSE TRAPPED BTWN HILLS. I PULLED UP TO AVOID THE HILLS TO CORRECT. SHOULD HAVE TURNED AROUND SOONER!

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.