Things started out normally on June 23, 2010, as my flight instructor and I began another instrument flight lesson. Our plan had been to fly from Midland, Texas' Skywest Airport to San Angelo Regional/ Mathis Field Airport in San Angelo; do a few instrument approaches; then fly to Midland International Airport for a few more approaches before returning to Skywest. It was a beautiful CAVU day. We were flying in a 1971 Cessna 177 Cardinal RG that I owned with two partners. When we made initial contact with San Angelo Approach at Mathis Field, we learned that the airport's instrument landing system was offline and no instrument approaches were being allowed. That was a surprise, as we hadn't seen any notices to airmen, but the problem had occurred after we launched. We shrugged and told the control tower our plan to return to Midland.
展开▼
