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Mid-air near miss


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"In flying, why do they call it a near miss?  It's a near hit!  A mid-air collision is a near miss.  'Crash!  Awww, look, they nearly missed!'"

George Carlin

So I had an unsettling experience a couple weeks ago.  I already filed an ASRS and figured I'd wait a little before posting about it.

I was on a afternoon flight with my wife just wandering around the region.  She started taking flight lessons last year, but put it on hold for the winter and some other problems, and now of course she can't really restart them.  I took off from our home airport, and I let her fly around and make some turns.  I didn't bother with VFR flight following since we weren't really going anywhere, and ATC would have a tough time calling out traffic if we were constantly changing directions.  I had my ADS-B receiver on with traffic on FltPlan Go.

After about 20 minutes, I took over again, and decided to do a touch-and-go at a nearby towered airport that was about 10 minutes away.  Again, I didn't bother with flight following since it was just a short trip.  I climbed to 3500' and called the tower about 15 miles out.  When I requested a touch-and-go, the tower controller interrupted and asked what my position was.  I told him my position and altitude, and he hurriedly warned me I had traffic approaching from my 6 o'clock 100 knots faster, same altitude.  I glanced down at my display which I had zoomed in so that there was only about 5 miles displayed behind me, and sure enough, there was a plane there at 3500' that wasn't there before a couple minutes ago.

I immediately started a left turn, and as I looked back out the left window coming out of my blind spot, I saw a twin (it turned out to be a Beech 99) blow past me within 3000'.  It was exactly at my altitude and made no evasive maneuvers, so he clearly never saw me.  By the time I turned 90 degrees it was past me, so my wife never saw it from the right seat.

Kudos to the KUAO tower controller for his situational awareness and keeping an eye on his ADS-B scope.  I thanked him profusely, especially knowing that it certainly wasn't his obligation or responsibility to warn me.  We were both kind of shaken afterwards, and he stated the other aircraft's registration number out loud, wondering how he could not have seen me on his ADS-B equipment since we were both equipped.

I looked up the aircraft afterwards, it's run by a nationwide small cargo carrier.  It had an IFR plan filed, but unfortunately, Seattle Center's frequency was not recorded on LiveATC, so I couldn't tell if he was actually talking to Center.  If he was, that boggles my mind if there was a loss of separation by ATC between two ADS-B equipped aircraft.

For my part, I'm left without much in the way of take-home lessons.  I wasn't paying close attention to my tablet since we were flying VFR, and I think my wife gets annoyed after her lessons when I remind her how important it is to keep looking out the windows.  Of course, that was no help here, and only keeping an eye on the tablet would have alerted me earlier, which doesn't feel right.

Perhaps a small lesson is knowing that ADS-B traffic is less useful for traffic awareness if you are zoomed in too close.  I only had about 5 miles of space around my ownship symbol, but I had to zoom in to read the frequencies on the sectional.  Conversely, in our region below 5000' MSL, you don't see much traffic blowing by you at 240 KIAS.

Stay healthy and fly safe, all

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With ADSB...

With clear weather...

How much separation are you expecting to need..?

There are speed limits... related to altitude...

We have an example of a military jet taking out A Cessna accidentally... long discussion around here...

 

Typical separation requirements, and what side you are supposed to pass on, are in the FARs...

Like flying past a cloud... really hard to measure distance...

 

One thing I always use while traveling is VORs.... If you want to find traffic... go directly to a VOR... it will be there.... below 5k’ AGL... there will be more...

 

Not sure why anyone would want to travel a long distance down low, at a high rate... if he had you on the fish finder... he probably knew where you were... If he saw you while flying, how much evasive action are you expecting?  
 

If he was watching a movie on his iPad.... he was relying on the big sky theory...

You can assume somebody always will...

Set up your ADSB-in device to ignore all the things at 30k’... and only show the stuff that is going to run you over...
 

If you set up your GPS to fly between VORs... put an offset in your device... the highway is 4nm wide... don’t be in the dead center of it...
 

Really mix things up...  you only need to miss somebody by 10’ to not trade paint...  do you really need to fly exactly at 3500’. What happens if you use 3400’ or 3600’

When flying a Mooney... consider getting away from the ground.... most of the yahoos are down low... flying around randomly... they don’t have the HP required to get to 5500’... or 5400’ or 5600’....

Use your plane to keep you and your SIC comfortable...

When you get away from the ground... the ADSB display clears up significantly...  not every plane in the sky is trying to get you...

Adding some perspective... you are traveling down the highway at 55mph... somebody is jacking up their car on the side of the road... you throw the unlucky gentleman a bone, and move from the right lane to the next one over... instead of missing him by 10’... you missed him by about 20’ instead...
 

The sky is incredibly big... missing by thousands of feet isn’t a close call...
 

expect the other pilot to add some distance between you... would you notice if he added another 100’ to the left or right?

If somebody is trying to get you... you won’t see them coming... :)

Best regards,

-a-

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I keep 2 ipads going in most cases.  The one on my yoke is usually set for traffic awareness at a large range.  FLyQ also highlights items that fall within a certain distance/altitude of me.  When I need to verify something, I use the other ipad to recheck airspace, approaches, read airport details, etc.  So my primary is always the same info at the same place (in the plane). 

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Whenever radar coverage is available, I always request flight following.  It doesn't matter if I'm not heading anywhere in particular; approach or the tower appreciates knowing that I'm on frequency and what I'm up to.  (Thanks to ADS-B they already know who I am.)  There's a good chance the tower was trying to contact you before your initial call.  Surprising that the controller would waste precious seconds by asking your position - which would be blinking red on his screen -- rather than responding to your call with "Mooney triple niner whisky, immediate 90 degree left turn, do it NOW."

Flight following is the best bargain in aviation safety -- it's free!   Use it.

Now, regarding the other guy, KUAO does have two IFR routes passing almost directly overhead (see below); the lowest of the MEAs is 4000.  If he was on an IFR flight plan he was either talking to ATC or was in a nordo situation, but in either case to be at that altitude he was busting minimums by at least 500 feet.  Even if he had declared an emergency ATC would have advised him of your position unless he had a total engine and electrical power failure.  

Something that was striking to me about your post were a number of phrases you used:   "I didn't bother with . . ."  "Again, I didn't bother with . . . "  "I wasn't paying close attention . . . "   "zoomed in too close. . . "  Hmm.  There are your take-home lessons!

"ATC would have a tough time calling out traffic if we were constantly changing directions...."  (huh???  No they don't.)  

KUAO Aurora State.jpg

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I fly in congested airspace in the ABE-PHL area. I always request flight following even if I am doing air work. ATC rarely, if ever refuses.  I keep my 43OW page turned to the ADS-B traffic window at the 2-6 miles level. Traffic also appears on my iPad (Foreflight).And finally, I use my Mark II eyeballs. Let's all be careful out there.

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Flying in and out of Metro (KBJC) here in the Denver area, the whole experience is one near miss after another.  If trying to keep 1000 ft and 1 mile separation, you'd just have to stay on the ground. 

I like having traffic displayed both on the IFD540 and the iPad at all times. And often that's not enough.

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3 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

I had a plane come out of the clouds above me (it was VFR conditions), went right over the top, probably 300’ at closest point.

I think that is my highest risk scenario, the guy who come out of clouds by descent will take 2 min (or more depending if he is going for a slow decent rate on cloud break) before getting back to normal visual flying and scanning for traffic with his eyes while the guy bellow will never see him coming

I am happy flying VFR with busy traffic away from cloud-base (used to gliding) or IFR deep inside clouds (sometimes not even talking to anyone, UK allow this), but on the lower boundary of the cloud-base traffic just converges and it gets messy, especially near uncontrolled towers or training areas in marginal conditions, even traffic solution warnings will just exasperate the situation when you have no visual contact and everybody is uncontrolled, so I better just spend less time sitting there...

Edited by Ibra
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I am still not comfortable that ADS-B gives a good enough picture of traffic.  While around Class B and C areas it is required, keep in mind that it is not required in Class E airspace below 10,000 MSL (in general).  There is a lot of Class E airspace below 10,000 MSL.  Because I am based under a Class B area, everyone around here is required to be equipped, but constantly seeing local traffic on the display can lead to a false sense of security when outside the normal stomping grounds.  Add in the aircraft for which ADS-B is not required (no electrical system, including gliders, balloons, and motorized aircraft originally certified without electrical systems), and it gets a little less comprehensive.

Now, if I'm traveling long distances, I'm on an IFR plan, or at least VFR flight following, but I have had Center controllers call out traffic to me a couple of times in the last several months that never appeared on my ADS-B in displays.  Keep your eyes out and use ATC as best you can, but definitely keep a close watch for holes lining up in the cheese.

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21 hours ago, carusoam said:

With ADSB...

With clear weather...

How much separation are you expecting to need..?

True that, I was more shaken up by the fact that it was coming from where I would never have seen him, and that he clearly never saw me.  Seeing traffic come as close as 3000' gets your attention but isn't unsettling.  Having it suddenly appear that close is

10 hours ago, KLRDMD said:

Curious to know how you knew his indicated airspeed?

The UAO tower controller told me, and I double-checked on FlightAware later (although both were presumably his ground speed actually)

 

20 hours ago, Bob E said:

Flight following is the best bargain in aviation safety -- it's free!   Use it.

Now, regarding the other guy, KUAO does have two IFR routes passing almost directly overhead (see below); the lowest of the MEAs is 4000.  If he was on an IFR flight plan he was either talking to ATC or was in a nordo situation, but in either case to be at that altitude he was busting minimums by at least 500 feet.  Even if he had declared an emergency ATC would have advised him of your position unless he had a total engine and electrical power failure.  

Something that was striking to me about your post were a number of phrases you used:   "I didn't bother with . . ."  "Again, I didn't bother with . . . "  "I wasn't paying close attention . . . "   "zoomed in too close. . . "  Hmm.  There are your take-home lessons!

"ATC would have a tough time calling out traffic if we were constantly changing directions...."  (huh???  No they don't.)  

 

Your right, I was pointing those things out to reinforce with myself to use flight following more often.

In the end, I have no way to figure out if the other flight was IFR or talking to ATC.  I remembered incorrectly, though, I was at 4500' MSL not 3500', so he still could have been on an IFR flight plan (although he would have been at 4000' or 5000')

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I used to be the same way thinking ATC won't want to deal with me spinning around in circles out there, but don't be afraid to ask for flight following even if you're just screwing around sight seeing or in a practice area.  Yeah you'll probably be changing directions a lot looking around or practicing but ATC will get a word in at the right time to help you out.

Edited by The Other Red Baron
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On 5/27/2020 at 1:08 AM, jaylw314 said:

I didn't bother with VFR flight following since we weren't really going anywhere, and ATC would have a tough time calling out traffic if we were constantly changing directions

Next time try flight following. You would have likely been on the same freq at the beech.  I’ll do it even if I’m maneuvering- just give the controller an idea of area and altitude.  On cross country flights I don’t think there’s been one in the last 10 years that I haven’t gotten flight following on. It’s just so easy and one more hole in the cheese plugger. 

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On 5/27/2020 at 1:08 AM, jaylw314 said:

Again, I didn't bother with flight following since it was just a short trip.

There is no such thing as “just a short trip.” Since when did trip distance have any bearing on midair collisions? I treat every trip as a potentially life altering trip. Because it is!

On 5/27/2020 at 1:08 AM, jaylw314 said:

For my part, I'm left without much in the way of take-home lessons.

The whole purpose of flight following is improved situational awareness and collision avoidance assistance. Radar is your friend.

Flight following...ALWAYS!
 

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Was in the same general area years ago getting flight following long before ADS-B and had a plane blast past me unannounced. VFR traffic advisories are not the highest priority for controllers. It’s a nice aid and I use it, but it’s supplemental. An IFR flight plan won’t guarantee separation either - except from other IFR traffic. When you are VFR, you are responsible for seeing and avoiding other traffic. Now that I have ADS-B, I wonder how I ever managed not to collide with all those planes I never saw. 

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1 hour ago, PT20J said:

Was in the same general area years ago getting flight following long before ADS-B and had a plane blast past me unannounced. VFR traffic advisories are not the highest priority for controllers. It’s a nice aid and I use it, but it’s supplemental. An IFR flight plan won’t guarantee separation either - except from other IFR traffic. When you are VFR, you are responsible for seeing and avoiding other traffic. Now that I have ADS-B, I wonder how I ever managed not to collide with all those planes I never saw. 

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That's one of the reasons I was interested in whether the other flight was IFR--if he was, it's hard to imagine ATC couldn't see both of us and warn him, but he clearly never was aware of me.

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