A BE36 engine cowling opened in flight obscuring the pilot's visibility so he diverted in class B ai...

Attributes
ACN	972611
Time
Date	201109
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Bonanza 36
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cowling
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 45 Flight Crew Total 800 Flight Crew Type 750
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Narrative:

I was flying in the class B on an IFR clearance. My cowling flew open and I had no forward visibility. I should have declared an emergency then; but decided not to as I was in the class B and I knew what that would do to traffic and I thought at that time my airplane was still flyable. When my cowling fly open I immediately turned toward a suitable landing site (while inside the class B) without a clearance. I told TRACON what was going on; did not declare; but asked for priority. On second thought; I should have declared an emergency as my unauthorized turn while in the class B could have caused a conflict. My concern was the cowling was going to blow off into my vertical stabilizer potentially making my airplane un-flyable. That never happened and I was able to land safely at my home airport.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE36 engine cowling opened in flight obscuring the pilot's visibility so he diverted in Class B airspace without a clearance; did not declare an emergency and landed safely at his home base.

Narrative: I was flying in the Class B on an IFR clearance. My cowling flew open and I had no forward visibility. I should have declared an emergency then; but decided not to as I was in the Class B and I knew what that would do to traffic and I thought at that time my airplane was still flyable. When my cowling fly open I immediately turned toward a suitable landing site (while inside the Class B) without a clearance. I told TRACON what was going on; did not declare; but asked for priority. On second thought; I should have declared an emergency as my unauthorized turn while in the Class B could have caused a conflict. My concern was the cowling was going to blow off into my vertical stabilizer potentially making my airplane un-flyable. That never happened and I was able to land safely at my home airport.

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.

A BE36 engine cowling opened in flight obscuring the pilot's visibility so he diverted in class B airspace without a clearance; did not declare an emergency and landed safely at his home base.