PA-32 Cherokee Six/Lance/Saratoga/6X
Flight Crew Private
Situational Awareness; Troubleshooting
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR
General None Reported / Taken
ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings; Aircraft; Human Factors
I left on a VFR flight using GPS guidance for navigation. The direct route took me through class D airspace. Using the GPS to stay clear of this airspace was planned before departure. After departing the GPS was working OK and was on course to stay clear of any controlled airspace. Some time thereafter the GPS lost signal and stopped moving but the map showed I was still clear of any conflict as it was not updating to show my exact position. This leading me to be closer to the airspace than my GPS screen showed. After the entering of controlled airspace and realizing the GPS was not updating and after a close inspection of the GPS it was determined that a loose connection of the antenna wiring was causing the GPS to lose its signal and this was corrected and this problem should not happen again. The reason for the conflict was equipment failure and a way to prevent this from happening again would be to have a backup GPS or have flight following so ATC can also back up your route of flight. Personally I am going to just IFR from now on and not rely on one source of navigation.
PA-32 Pilot reported possible airspace violation due to GPS failure.