Small Aircraft; Low Wing; 2 Eng; Retractable Gear
Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100; Flight Crew Total 10600; Flight Crew Type 1300
Training / Qualification; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness
Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Airspace Structure; Human Factors; Procedure; Equipment / Tooling
I inadvertently penetrated a stadium TFR centered over Yankee Stadium in NYC while I flew through the Hudson SFRA. The mistake is mine; the misunderstanding is mine; and the consequences belong to me as well. I'd like to provide more perspective and also include some corrective actions I'm taking to improve myself as a result of this incident.It is clear to me that a chain for the event was formed when I skipped getting a weather briefing from 1-800-WX-BRIEF. The bottom line is that the only way to be sure whether a TFR is active or not is to call and speak to a weather briefer; and I simply didn't do that. The initial plan was to launch and do local sightseeing. We did so; and decided only once we were airborne to proceed to the Hudson SFRA. I had checked TFRs on the ground; so I thought; by going to tfr.faa.gov and checking to see if a TFR was in effect. Though it was not obvious to me at the time; it is now very clearly obvious that the website warns the user in multiple locations; with white text overlaid on red highlighting; that the website may not be current and to call 1-800-WX-BRIEF for the most current TFRs. However; somehow; someway; I've never noticed those advisories and always thought the tfr.faa.gov website was the best source for TFR information. In any case; I wasn't specifically looking for stadium TFRs because it was only a background thought that we may fly down the Hudson River SFRA. My primary plan was to simply fly in the local area. This was my first mistake; I should have formed a better plan before launching; and of course; call the briefer.In the air; once we decided to fly to the Hudson River and proceed southbound; I pulled up Garmin Pilot on my EFB. I learned something critically important: the way Garmin Pilot and Foreflight depict TFRs is different. Had I looked at Foreflight even once; I would have seen a red circle showing a surface to 3;000 feet AGL TFR centered around Yankee stadium; and I never would have continued. But I didn't look at Foreflight. I looked at Garmin Pilot; which I've been using recently since it features integration features with my panel avionics. In any case; the depiction of TFRs on Garmin Pilot showed a red TFR around Trump Tower; and then a series of blue circles all over the chart including over LGA; TEB; and other locations; including Yankee Stadium. I didn't think the blue circles represented TFRs. I thought they were informational blurbs about those areas. The red circle for the Trump TFR was very obvious and drew my attention; and the blue circles just blended into the clutter of my chart; which also depicted terrain; obstacles; traffic; and weather. So lesson two is not to use a new EFB or any EFB for that matter and trust the information it presents on matters as critical as the lateral and vertical dimensions of TFRs. Only when I returned to the ground did I think to look at Foreflight; which clearly showed a red TFR circle; just like the way the Trump Tower TFR was depicted.I made a mistake here which; had I heard of someone else doing; I would automatically assume involved a lack of experience on the part of the pilot. I could easily have avoided this error multiple times. Instead; I went by my interpretation of my EFB display and a website which clearly doesn't depict timely TFR information. I missed multiple warnings on the FAA website advising the data was not necessarily current. I misunderstood the depiction of my EFB. And most importantly; I simply didn't pick up the phone and speak to a briefer on my way to the airport. It would have taken all of a few minutes to do so; and this incident never would have happened.My corrective actions are:1) Call the briefer; every single time I fly; even if it's just pattern work at my quiet; rural home airport.2) Spend more time using and understanding my EFB software so that I actually understand the information it's presenting.3) Improve my overall situational awareness. I could have just checked my phone to see if the New York Yankees were playing a game.
GA pilot reported penetrating a stadium TFR in the Hudson River SFRA due to lack of familiarity with the Garmin Pilot display and overlooking currency of TFR information.