Narrative:

Weather appeared to be marginal enroute; but quite acceptable at the end points. Chose to go VFR over the top. Conditions deteriorated in southwest louisiana; and landed at uxl; and took on fuel (taking on fuel here was one of the few good decisions of this endeavor). Observed weather forecasts and observations there; and obtained an electronic briefing from internet weather service. Per these sources of information; it appeared that conditions were improving; and while there would be IMC at bpt; it would be better in houston. Left uxl with a ceiling over 3;000 ft -- after passing bpt it was clear that the scattered layer that was expected had become solid overcast. Conditions at the departure airport were predicted to deteriorate; and looking out the back window confirmed that a 180 degree turn would not help the situation. Found a hole (too small to descend through in VMC); and gathered observations from nearby airports to determine an estimation of the current ceiling. Descended through and around the hole; encountering IMC for roughly 1 minute. The required instrument training in the ppl training requirements served well here; as an instrument scan commenced just prior to entering IMC helped greatly in maintaining control of the aircraft. The sun was setting at this time; and it was a somewhat rural area; so although some ground reference was available; so used the nrst feature of the GPS unit to locate a nearby airport to land -- essentially scud ran at 700 ft AGL to the destination; relying heavily on the terrain feature of the handheld GPS to maintain separation from obstacles. Ultimately; the cause was get- thereitis; and attempted continuation of VFR flight into deteriorating conditions. A verbal briefing from FSS would likely have included the words 'VFR not recommended.' this may have been the wakeup call which could have broken the chain of events on the ground.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Private pilot reports diversion to nearest suitable airport when enroute weather deteriorates. Reporter uses GPS to locate airport and to avoid terrain and obstacles at low altitude below clouds.

Narrative: Weather appeared to be marginal enroute; but quite acceptable at the end points. Chose to go VFR over the top. Conditions deteriorated in southwest Louisiana; and landed at UXL; and took on fuel (taking on fuel here was one of the few good decisions of this endeavor). Observed weather forecasts and observations there; and obtained an electronic briefing from internet weather service. Per these sources of information; it appeared that conditions were improving; and while there would be IMC at BPT; it would be better in Houston. Left UXL with a ceiling over 3;000 FT -- after passing BPT it was clear that the scattered layer that was expected had become solid overcast. Conditions at the departure airport were predicted to deteriorate; and looking out the back window confirmed that a 180 degree turn would not help the situation. Found a hole (too small to descend through in VMC); and gathered observations from nearby airports to determine an estimation of the current ceiling. Descended through and around the hole; encountering IMC for roughly 1 minute. The required instrument training in the PPL training requirements served well here; as an instrument scan commenced just prior to entering IMC helped greatly in maintaining control of the aircraft. The sun was setting at this time; and it was a somewhat rural area; so although some ground reference was available; so used the NRST feature of the GPS unit to locate a nearby airport to land -- essentially scud ran at 700 FT AGL to the destination; relying heavily on the terrain feature of the handheld GPS to maintain separation from obstacles. Ultimately; the cause was get- thereitis; and attempted continuation of VFR flight into deteriorating conditions. A verbal briefing from FSS would likely have included the words 'VFR Not Recommended.' This may have been the wakeup call which could have broken the chain of events on the ground.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.