PA-31 Navajo/Chieftan/Mojave/T1040
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors; Procedure
The Piper PA-31 checked in on my frequency; VFR at 17;500 [feet] on a heading immediately directed toward R4001. On initial contact; I informed the pilot of R4001's current ACTIVE status and suggested the pilot to turn immediately either east or west to avoid R4001. I informed the Supervisor of a possible spill out into restricted area. I instructed the pilot to squawk emergency and to continue on a heading away from APG. The pilot appeared to react slowly to my instructions; so I suggested a heading of 090 to keep him out of the restricted area and continued vectoring him out of the area until he exited R4001's depicted boundary. The pilot; by now appeared confused; and began questioning R4001's active status. The pilot kept asking me to confirm whether APG was active since previous Controller had informed him that the area was INACTIVE. I called the ZNY Controller working N25 (MXE) to let him know of the aircraft violating R4001; and to let him know what the pilot reported in regards to R4001's status.  The Controller at N25 (MXE) confirmed to me that he had informed the PA-31 that R4001 was INACTIVE as per his status information board; which indicated R4001 as INACTIVE. I acknowledged the N25 (MXE) Controller and informed him that R4001 was ACTIVE. I recommend a review of the special restricted area activation and deactivation process. The process of changing the status of any restricted area in the near vicinity of our nation's capital or any city in the U.S.A. is a critical aspect to the safety of NAS. Persons responsible for entering changes to these areas cannot afford to make such errors. The DC metro area is known for many restricted areas. The fact that my neighboring Controller received incorrect information about airspace that is active 5 days out of 7 days a week in unacceptable.
ZDC Controller described a near airspace infraction when a ZNY Controller had incorrectly advised a pilot of the status of R4001.