Jeppesen Nav Data Card Error -Safety Begins at ENT

Amos Heckendorf writes:

"Let's hear it once again for using check lists to keep ourselves safe. I have a Garmin 530 with a subscription for monthly replacements of my Nav data. I try to use the monthly update as my opportunity to fly, and this month's Nav card was just begging me to leave the office behind for a few hours of business evaluation of my tax deduction."

"December 23rd, was such an unusually warm day, I thought I would go out for a flight and take the opportunity to put in the new card for the DEC23,04 thru JAN 19,05 subscription period. So I popped in the card, fired up the Mooney 201 and began to complete the check list at the RADIOS line item. To my amazement, the Garmin was reading OCT, 04 thru NOV,04 instead of what I had thought is should read. I asked myself if I had mistakenly put in the wrong chip in my haste to get into the air. After all, just as I was pulling the plane out from the hanger, I did get a business call on my cell phone. So it was possible that I had been distracted and mistakenly used the older chip instead.

So reluctantly, I shut the plane down, climbed out, and went into the hangar to retrieve the other chip. Having chastised myself for carelessness, I swapped chips and turned on the Garmin to see just how forgetful this old pilot had become. To my amazement, the chip read NOV, 04 thru DEC, 04 on the outside and the data said the same inside the unit. Double checking the "new" chip, the outside read DEC, 04 thru JAN, 05, but the data inside was now two month's old. So much for flying with a current data base.

Luckily it wasn't an IFR day and my insurance company wasn't given a chance to talk with me either. Jeppesen of course promised me a new chip for the next day. It arrived a week later after a second phone call. For some reason they are really interested in getting this erroneous chip back.

Has anyone else been sent a data chip that is not properly programmed? If not, then I recommend you double check the card after you put it in the unit. It is so easy to say to yourself, yeah I know its right and press that ENTER button to get on to the more important stuff. The important stuff starts right at the beginning.