A PA28's electrical system malfunctioned damaging the GPS which caused the pilot to deviate from a V...

Attributes
ACN	962665
Time
Date	201107
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-28R Cherokee Arrow All Series
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Electrical Wiring & Connectors
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 1500 Flight Crew Type 500
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Narrative:

I was bringing home a newly acquired aircraft equipped with a garmin 696 GPS. I experienced an electrical failure due to a bad connection of the avionics bus feed. The voltage spike disarmed and damaged the GPS. This could not have happened at a worse time as the airspace in this area has very narrow corridors. While trying to sort out the problem; I inadvertently wandered into special use airspace. I had current paper maps with me; but were stowed neatly in my flight bag which was in the back seat of the airplane. Getting the maps and finding a fix to navigate to; took quite a bit of time. As I think back; I believe pilots flying aircraft with modern navigation systems can get lulled into a false sense of security. I will now advocate to my fellow pilots the importance of having paper maps readily at hand due to my experience. Maybe the best things that I could have done at the time would be to call flight service 121.5 and ask for frequencies and maybe a fix to expedite my departure from the special use airspace.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA28's electrical system malfunctioned damaging the GPS which caused the pilot to deviate from a VFR track and stray into special use airspace because he did not have immediate access to his paper charts.

Narrative: I was bringing home a newly acquired aircraft equipped with a Garmin 696 GPS. I experienced an electrical failure due to a bad connection of the avionics bus feed. The voltage spike disarmed and damaged the GPS. This could not have happened at a worse time as the airspace in this area has very narrow corridors. While trying to sort out the problem; I inadvertently wandered into special use airspace. I had current paper maps with me; but were stowed neatly in my flight bag which was in the back seat of the airplane. Getting the maps and finding a fix to navigate to; took quite a bit of time. As I think back; I believe pilots flying aircraft with modern navigation systems can get lulled into a false sense of security. I will now advocate to my fellow pilots the importance of having paper maps readily at hand due to my experience. Maybe the best things that I could have done at the time would be to call Flight Service 121.5 and ask for frequencies and maybe a fix to expedite my departure from the special use airspace.

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.