Near Collision Incident

[RDRickster]

Yesterday, I was flying mostly off-shore (Atlantic Ocean off NJ Coast) and in some of the larger bay areas (Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay).  Anyway, I was on the way back in - about a mile off the beach heading for an inlet when a fixed-wing plane missed me by about 50-75 feet!

 

I was decending for a low pass along some boats and was about 100' ASL at the time (getting set up to take some pictures).  The nearest air field was about 8 nm away or so.  He was heading into the sun, so I don't think he ever saw me.  The weather and visibility were excellent, and he looked like he was following along the beach at low-level.  From my perspective, he came out of nowhere and cut right in front of me before I knew he was there!

 

Needless, to say I was a bit pi$$ed off that this bone-head was flying below 500' and didn't make any position calls.  More importantly, he didn't pay attention to our position calls.  What the heck was this guy doing at that altitude?      Has this ever happened to you?

[jimbo2181]

We get it all the time in the San Tan mountains (our pinn/confine training area).  We always have cubs and bi planes flying at extremely low level and Ive almost been clipped a couple of times when they pop over a ridge that we are trying to land on.  They are based (I believe) out of the same airport as us but they won't use our practice area frequency.  Just proves you always have to watch your own a$$.

[Gummy]

Had it happen a few times.

The worst was one time about 6 months ago when heading back to the airport with the instructor. We had just joined down wind, and were flying at 700ft, as per the heli regs for that airport.

That airport can be pretty busy and I always watch for traffic that isnt where its supposed to be.as I scanned to the right I saw a small plank on my right at my alt, about 1-150 ft to my right. I pulled pitch and banked left.

The adreanalin was really pumping as I got my stuff together and resumed my down wind leg. The instructor looked over and casually asked what the manouver was all about, I pointed at the tail of the plane.

He jumped on the radio to ATC striaght away, who responed with "We didnt clear any plane on that track" and told us they would get back to us.

On the ground the instructor filed a report, but due to the fact I didnt get the rego he/she was never caught.

No disrespect to the dual rated guys here, but all my near misses have been with fixed wing. Incorrect calls, trying to land or circuit in the wrong directoin, saying they are at 1500ft and being at 1000.

Curious as to others thoughts on this. Maybe the lower costs of fixed wing allow more weekend warriors who dont keep current, maybe theres just more of them.

I generally fly as if everyone else is out to get me, keeps me on my toes.

[KeysCapt]

Ever hang around an uncontrolled airport, maybe one that's out in the sticks a little ways, populated with a bunch of older guys with tail-draggers, the kind that sit around the pot-bellied stove a lot?

 

You'd be amazed at how many of these gentlemen scorn the very idea of BFRs, haven't renewed their medical since the old diabetes kicked up, and see no reason to comply with annual inspections any more.

 

Not all, by any means, but enough to make it very scary.

[BDR]

When I was doing instrument instruction I once had a near miss with a Seneca (twin engine) They were also doing instrument instruction as they had one half off their windshield covered by an IFR chart. The safety pilot was still able to look out his side of the window which didn't really help because we were on his left (where the PIC and the IFR chart were)  

But you can't blame those guys for not seeing us...have you ever sat in an airplane...you can't see anything. The first time I flew a fixed wing (a cub) I was horrified by the fact that they really can't see us. I then got a ride in a Seneca and those guys see even less even without half of the windshield covered with charts.

 

Jimbo, The guys that fly the Great Lakes bi-planes practice their aerobatics over the San Tans and some like to finish with a low level run through the hills...can you blame them. They used to monitor 123.45 when doing aerobatics. Go down and talk to the instructors there and tell them what you do in the San Tans. They are also always getting new instructors that might not know what the guys across the road do.

[jimbo2181]

I take it youve been to wonderful KCHD?  Can I blame them??? no, I wish I could do it lots of days I just wish they would realize we are always out there normally right on the ridges they prefer to pop over.  We've talked to them as well, just wish they would use our frequency.

 

As for the uncontrolled airports...that is a really scary situation.  Had a guy call final for runway 30 while I was still on the runway and was going to depart before he got down...did a pedal turn and right in my departure path was a plane on a half mile final for 12.  Not fun stuff.

[Robbie Driver]

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[Randy Greenhalgh]

Try flying anywhere that there's float plane activity.  Most of them use whatever freq (read company freq) they want and use landmarks not found on any map.  Then there are those who feel that radios are the work of the devil, and use the things as little as possible.  They're usually low-level to give the fishermen a "great" flight.  Then there are the "looky-loos", the ones who just have to get up close to have a look at that forest fire.  

 

We routinely fly close to other a/c on fires.  On a decent sized initial attack you'll have the bombers at tree-top, our I.A. ship 500' above (waiting for a bird dog to let us down), bird dog 500' above us, other helicopters each stacked 500' above each other, etc.  I can tell you that even 500' separation looks close.

 

Cheers

[Lu Zuckerman]

I posted this on PPRuNe

 

Many moons ago (too many to count) I was flying as a flight engineer on a USCG PBY-5A. We were based at Corpus Christi NAS. The Navy had several smaller air stations in the near vicinity each with its’ own tower and control. Our aircraft was practicing ground-controlled approaches to the ground and our pilots were “under the hood”. We were being controlled by NAS corpus Christi.

 

The sky was overcast and although visibility to the ground was good horizontal visibility was not so good. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted an aircraft that was at our same altitude and crossing our path at about 90-degrees from the left. I contacted the pilots but they did not respond as to lose contact with the ground for several seconds required that they break away from the landing path and make a go-around. I contacted the pilots several times more as the aircraft came closer. Finally, I hit command override and told the pilots that the aircraft was coming closer. They made some unintelligible comment and just then the GCA that was controlling our landing path saw the same aircraft on their screens and the GCA controlling the other aircraft (a JRB Beech D-18) saw us on their screens. Pandemonium ensued as our respective GCA controllers told us and the other pilot who was also under the hood to pull up and or dive. We missed each other by about 500 feet.

 

:unclesam:  :bowdown: This is Pierre.  While flying his R-22 tuna spotting he was just a few feet over the water when he almost had a mid-air with a whale that was spy hopping.

[flyresq]

I was flying in a formation flight (#2 helo) over NW TX/ OK at 300 AGL. when a  crop duster came out of the trees below, left and in front of the #1 helo.  I went high & right.  #1's crew never saw the crop duster.  Pucker factor went way, way up, but there were no casualities other than a few bladders.  The sun was straight above us.

 

Another case occurred over the mountains of WV at 500 AGL.  The Flight Engineer in the back called traffic at 11 o'clock, level.  We never saw it from the cockpit.   It turned out to be a P51 Mustang on a closing course, that missed us by 200ft.  

 

So much for the speed limit at & below 500ft.

 

Lessons learned, all eyes should be scanning...

[Eric Hunt]

Yesterday afternoon, low sun angle from 9 o'clock, 2500' agl. Normally I move my head around a bit to get a good lookout, but the sun was conveniently behind the left window pillar of the 76, keeping it out of my eyes, so I didn't move much.

 

Then a Hawk jet appeared from behind the RIGHT window pillar, about 200' above and passed right to left, about 200' in front. OK, disregard the blinding sun, just keep moving that head!

[jimbo2181]

The hawker should have had TCAS...yay technology.

 

 

But still keep head moving