SR22
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 89; Flight Crew Total 3150; Flight Crew Type 219
Situational Awareness
Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Airspace Structure; Human Factors
The aircraft owner and I had flown to his home airport that morning and I flew the aircraft solo on a north heading back to our FBO for servicing. Prior to his picking me up; I checked the FAA national map showing Temporary Flight Restrictions to see if anything would affect the ferry flight. I also checked local NOTAMs for the departure and destination airports; which is something I always do before such flights. No TFRs were indicated on the map along the route I was to fly. Enroute from Illinois; I followed the direct route as indicated on the GPS; flying between 2;500 and 2;900 FT. Somewhere near the state line; the traffic watch on the aircraft indicated 2 or 3 aircraft ahead of my position; near and below my altitude. I altered my course to the left and did a slight climb; which seemed to be the best course of action at the time; as some of the traffic appeared to be descending to a nearby airport that was off to my right. It was hazy at altitude and difficult to visually see traffic; so I relied heavily on the traffic watch screen for avoidance. The rest of the 35-minute flight was uneventful.When I was preparing for a subsequent flight an hour later; I again checked the TFR map but for some reason I also pulled up the accompanying list and spotted one for northern Illinois; near the state line; 31 NM northeast of the Rockford VOR. It was posted by local law enforcement earlier in the day for a cadaver search in the area; and the TFR was for a 6-mile ring below 3;000 FT. I realized I might have inadvertently flown into the designated search area when I altered course for traffic; potentially interfering with said operations and causing a traffic hazard. I also realized that the TFR map has limitations in that it does not necessarily mark every single TFR. I plan to improve my preflight planning by checking multiple sources for TFR's.
The reporter states that the aircraft had the capability to receive TFR updates to the map display in flight but it may not have been operating at the time.
SR22 pilot discovers after a flight that she may have penetrated a law enforcement TFR earlier in the day. The FAA map did not display the TFR but a NOTAM did exist.