Narrative:

A C182 made his initial call to request flight following. The r-side asked the aircraft to say again. The aircraft then repeated his callsign and the r-side advised him that he was unable flight following at the moment. The aircraft advised that he was a new pilot and asked again if he could please receive flight following. So the r-side issued him a discrete beacon code. The r-side then asked the pilot the type of aircraft and destination. The pilot advised that he was a C182 skylane and his destination was vnc. The r-side asked the C182 to say position. The C182 replied that he was 12 NM north northeast of eyw. The r-side then asked the pilot if he was familiar with R2916 and the pilot said that he was. The r-side issued the C182 a 360 heading immediately so that he could exit R2916. The r-side advised the aircraft of the weather balloon and the cable in the restricted area and later gave him the phone number for the supervisor at miami center. This aircraft was well in the restricted area when he called miami center for flight following and there is no telling how close he actually got to the cable for the weather balloon. The transponder on the weather balloon read 9;500 ft and the aircraft was way below this altitude; so we don't know if he was going to be able to even see the cable. I recommend that navy key west approach becomes a civil approach control instead of a navy approach control. The navy has been taking all of the holidays off and closing early when ever they please. I don't know what the legalities are in this matter but I do know that as a center controller; we are not trained to practice the same rules as an approach controller. When they close for the holidays; the airspace reverts back to miami center and there have been numerous deals and delays because of this. If we wouldn't have been so caught up in trying to work an approach facility; we might have recognized the danger that the C182 was in a lot sooner. Better yet; if navy key west approach was there; this would have never happened. Because once the aircraft departed from key west international; the tower would have given the aircraft navy key west's frequency and they would've been able to provide adequate service. Instead; this new pilot had to call us in the blind to see if we could even provide flight following. A lot of the times; especially when we're working navy key west approach airspace; we don't have time to provide this additional service. Who knows what would've happened if the pilot wouldn't have told us that he was a new pilot. We really didn't have the time at the moment. There has been fatal accidents previously recorded in R2916 because of this same situation and it would be a shame if another accident has to occur before action is taken. My suggestion is to make navy key approach a civil approach just like the key west international tower.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZMA Controller described a Restricted Airspace (R2916) entry event by an unfamiliar pilot; the reporter alleging that if NAVY Key West were to change to civilian control these types of event would be minimized.

Narrative: A C182 made his initial call to request flight following. The R-Side asked the aircraft to say again. The aircraft then repeated his callsign and the R-Side advised him that he was unable flight following at the moment. The aircraft advised that he was a new pilot and asked again if he could please receive flight following. So the R-Side issued him a discrete beacon code. The R-Side then asked the pilot the type of aircraft and destination. The pilot advised that he was a C182 Skylane and his destination was VNC. The R-Side asked the C182 to say position. The C182 replied that he was 12 NM north northeast of EYW. The R-Side then asked the pilot if he was familiar with R2916 and the pilot said that he was. The R-Side issued the C182 a 360 heading immediately so that he could exit R2916. The R-Side advised the aircraft of the Weather Balloon and the cable in the Restricted Area and later gave him the phone number for the supervisor at Miami Center. This aircraft was well in the Restricted Area when he called Miami Center for flight following and there is no telling how close he actually got to the cable for the Weather Balloon. The Transponder on the Weather Balloon read 9;500 FT and the aircraft was way below this altitude; so we don't know if he was going to be able to even see the cable. I recommend that Navy Key West Approach becomes a Civil Approach Control instead of a Navy Approach Control. The Navy has been taking all of the Holidays off and closing early when ever they please. I don't know what the legalities are in this matter but I do know that as a Center Controller; we are not trained to practice the same rules as an Approach Controller. When they close for the Holidays; the airspace reverts back to Miami Center and there have been numerous deals and delays because of this. If we wouldn't have been so caught up in trying to work an Approach Facility; we might have recognized the danger that the C182 was in a lot sooner. Better yet; if Navy Key West Approach was there; this would have never happened. Because once the aircraft departed from Key West International; the Tower would have given the Aircraft Navy Key West's frequency and they would've been able to provide adequate service. Instead; this new pilot had to call us in the blind to see if we could even provide Flight Following. A lot of the times; especially when we're working Navy Key West Approach Airspace; we don't have time to provide this additional service. Who knows what would've happened if the pilot wouldn't have told us that he was a new pilot. We really didn't have the time at the moment. There has been Fatal Accidents previously recorded in R2916 because of this same situation and it would be a shame if another accident has to occur before action is taken. My suggestion is to make Navy Key Approach a Civil Approach just like the Key West International Tower.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.