Narrative:

I departed french valley airport (F70) to fly to el monte (emt), with a planned fuel stop at corona airport (ajo). When I gave a position report to the corona traffic, I was informed by unicom that the airport was under tfr. It was not until then that I recalled a government official was in southern california and thinking that he may be at march AFB, I immediately turned west towards emt. At that time, I noticed an F15 off my right wing. I unsuccessfully attempted to contact him on 121.5. I then made numerous attempts to contact socal approach on 125.5, but received no acknowledgement. I continued towards emt, contacting emt tower for landing, but was informed I could not land without a discrete squawk code which I attempted to obtain without success a number of times calling the frequencys given to me. By this time, I was in the vicinity of santa anita race track, which is north and west of emt and still could not obtain permission to land until I informed ATC. I now had a low fuel situation and declared an emergency. The F15 had made several passes by this time signaling me to land which I could not comply until I declared an emergency. This entire incident developed because I was unaware of the tfr. Contributing factor was the french valley airport is a non tower airport, so they could not warn me of the tfr and I neglected to call ATC for a briefing or file a flight plan before my departure. In the future, I need to be more aware of the possibility of tfr's along the course of my flight, even for flts of relatively short distance and contact ATC for a briefing and or file a flight plan.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: M20P PLT ENTERED A GOV OFFICIAL TFR AREA AND WAS INTERCEPTED BY A MIL F15. THE PLT DID NOT GET AN FSS BRIEFING, AND DID NOT KNOW OF THE TFR.

Narrative: I DEPARTED FRENCH VALLEY ARPT (F70) TO FLY TO EL MONTE (EMT), WITH A PLANNED FUEL STOP AT CORONA ARPT (AJO). WHEN I GAVE A POS RPT TO THE CORONA TFC, I WAS INFORMED BY UNICOM THAT THE ARPT WAS UNDER TFR. IT WAS NOT UNTIL THEN THAT I RECALLED A GOV OFFICIAL WAS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THINKING THAT HE MAY BE AT MARCH AFB, I IMMEDIATELY TURNED W TOWARDS EMT. AT THAT TIME, I NOTICED AN F15 OFF MY R WING. I UNSUCCESSFULLY ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT HIM ON 121.5. I THEN MADE NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT SOCAL APCH ON 125.5, BUT RECEIVED NO ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. I CONTINUED TOWARDS EMT, CONTACTING EMT TWR FOR LNDG, BUT WAS INFORMED I COULD NOT LAND WITHOUT A DISCRETE SQUAWK CODE WHICH I ATTEMPTED TO OBTAIN WITHOUT SUCCESS A NUMBER OF TIMES CALLING THE FREQS GIVEN TO ME. BY THIS TIME, I WAS IN THE VICINITY OF SANTA ANITA RACE TRACK, WHICH IS N AND W OF EMT AND STILL COULD NOT OBTAIN PERMISSION TO LAND UNTIL I INFORMED ATC. I NOW HAD A LOW FUEL SIT AND DECLARED AN EMER. THE F15 HAD MADE SEVERAL PASSES BY THIS TIME SIGNALING ME TO LAND WHICH I COULD NOT COMPLY UNTIL I DECLARED AN EMER. THIS ENTIRE INCIDENT DEVELOPED BECAUSE I WAS UNAWARE OF THE TFR. CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS THE FRENCH VALLEY ARPT IS A NON TWR ARPT, SO THEY COULD NOT WARN ME OF THE TFR AND I NEGLECTED TO CALL ATC FOR A BRIEFING OR FILE A FLT PLAN BEFORE MY DEP. IN THE FUTURE, I NEED TO BE MORE AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF TFR'S ALONG THE COURSE OF MY FLT, EVEN FOR FLTS OF RELATIVELY SHORT DISTANCE AND CONTACT ATC FOR A BRIEFING AND OR FILE A FLT PLAN.

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.