Skywagon 185
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180; Flight Crew Total 15000; Flight Crew Type 300
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure
I planned a trip from my hometown to Canada and back. I fly internationally as a major airline captain on a regular basis but I had not done this in my private aircraft since all the rule changes after 9/11. I wanted to be sure to do things right so I called the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association to get pointed in the right direction. They have some articles dedicated to that so I looked them up; printed them and read them. Then I called the US Customs and Border Protection office which was the port of entry for my return flight. I asked them exactly what I needed to do to exit and reenter the country. I also called the Canadian Customs and Border Protection agency and CanPass. Since returning I looked at my call log. I made a total of EIGHT phone calls to the US Customs and Border Protection office; THREE calls to CanPass; two calls to the US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and 2 calls to the Canadian Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; all to make sure I didn't miss something. I created an account with eAPIS and DTOPS to register my aircraft and myself and my passengers for my trip. Somehow I didn't catch the fact that I needed to file an EXIT report with eAPIS. I filed my US entry report with eAPIS and flew my trip. Upon return to the US the Customs agent informed me I had not filed an exit report and this was the first I learned that this was required. I am a very conscientious and professional pilot and as you can see I tried to do this right. I think it's absurd that this can be this complicated. My recommendations are there be just ONE website to do EVERYTHING related to entry and exit of the United States. Secondly there needs to be clearer instructions on how the process works. Thirdly there needs to be more flexibility in scheduling the entry inspection.  The Canadians are very flexible and accommodating; when I needed to change my entry time I just called one number and told them what my new ETA was. The opposite was true for returning to my own country. To enter the US I had to have an exact ETA; and the office told me not to bother calling if my plans or ETA changed because their office would be closed. I made my arrival slot on time but I was in a VFR airplane and if the weather had changed I might have been late or been forced to land at another US airport. The customs officials were NOT helpful in the least; and put pressure on me to be there on time REGARDLESS. Thunderstorms were developing on my return flight and I was ready to do what I had to do to stay safe; but a less experienced pilot would have felt intense pressure to press on and make the time slot even if that meant pressing on into deteriorating weather; only to accommodate an overly aggressive Customs and Border Patrol office. They need to remember that they are here to serve the flying public and not the other way around. My tax dollars pay their bills; and in addition to that I paid my aircraft entry fee. I am the customer and I will fly safe; regardless of their little kingdom rules.
C-185 pilot reported that when returning from an out of country flight he learned that an exit report; on top of a reentry report; was required.