Narrative:

On an IFR flight plan into the los angeles area; I was given the kayoh four arrival and then given a reroute as follows: direct pdz then heading 270 to intercept V394 to sli; and then direct. While putting the new route into the GPS; approach asked if I could expedite descent to cross 6 east of pdz at 6;000; which required a 1;500 FPM rate of descent. I accepted the request and complied; but the abnormal descent rate took time away from setting the reroute in the GPS. I asked my pilot rated wife in the right seat to look at the chart and find V394 for me. She did and showed me the airway label on the current (62nd edition) VFR los angeles tac chart. It shows V394 as the 058 degree radial from seal beach VOR. I set that in the #2 VOR and continued on. I crossed pdz at 4;000 MSL and turned to 270 heading. The controller questioned what I was doing and I read back to him the clearance stated above and he gave me a further turn to 290 degrees. At this point I was confused by the heading away from torrance and away from what I thought was V394. I don't recall all the discussion on the frequency; but it was not a smooth operation. I asked about sli 058 radial and he said V394 was the pom 187 degree radial. Confusion and consternation ensued. Upon studying the chart later; I see that there is an error in the 62nd edition VFR los angeles tac chart. It has the label V394 on the airway just east of aheim intersection. But V394 turns sharply north at aheim; to pomona VOR. The misplaced label made me think that there was no turn in V394 and that it was defined by the 058 radial to pdz. In other words; there are two airways labeled V394 on this chart and I picked the wrong one in the eyes of sct approach. The issue arose from the last minute reroute and abnormal descent request; coupled with a labeling error on the chart. If I had had time to look for V394 myself; I would have seen the proper info on the IFR chart. Since I was pressed for time and asked my VFR rated wife to help; she picked up the bad info from the VFR chart. Looking back; I should have refused either the reroute or the high rate descent or both. It was too many changes in too little time to accomplish smoothly.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BE55 pilot descending into the Los Angeles on the KAYOH 4 arrival is issued a reroute by SCT. The reporter attempts to comply by having his non instrument rated wife locate V394 on the LA VFR TAC; which indicates the airway is a straight line between PDZ and SLI. The V394 label east of AHEIM Intersection causing the confusion.

Narrative: On an IFR flight plan into the Los Angeles area; I was given the Kayoh Four arrival and then given a reroute as follows: direct PDZ then heading 270 to intercept V394 to SLI; and then direct. While putting the new route into the GPS; Approach asked if I could expedite descent to cross 6 east of PDZ at 6;000; which required a 1;500 FPM rate of descent. I accepted the request and complied; but the abnormal descent rate took time away from setting the reroute in the GPS. I asked my pilot rated wife in the right seat to look at the chart and find V394 for me. She did and showed me the airway label on the current (62nd edition) VFR Los Angeles TAC chart. It shows V394 as the 058 degree radial from Seal Beach VOR. I set that in the #2 VOR and continued on. I crossed PDZ at 4;000 MSL and turned to 270 heading. The Controller questioned what I was doing and I read back to him the clearance stated above and he gave me a further turn to 290 degrees. At this point I was confused by the heading away from Torrance and away from what I thought was V394. I don't recall all the discussion on the frequency; but it was not a smooth operation. I asked about SLI 058 radial and he said V394 was the POM 187 degree radial. Confusion and consternation ensued. Upon studying the chart later; I see that there is an error in the 62nd edition VFR Los Angeles TAC chart. It has the label V394 on the airway just east of AHEIM Intersection. But V394 turns sharply north at AHEIM; to Pomona VOR. The misplaced label made me think that there was no turn in V394 and that it was defined by the 058 radial to PDZ. In other words; there are two airways labeled V394 on this chart and I picked the wrong one in the eyes of SCT Approach. The issue arose from the last minute reroute and abnormal descent request; coupled with a labeling error on the chart. If I had had time to look for V394 myself; I would have seen the proper info on the IFR chart. Since I was pressed for time and asked my VFR rated wife to help; she picked up the bad info from the VFR chart. Looking back; I should have refused either the reroute or the high rate descent or both. It was too many changes in too little time to accomplish smoothly.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.