What happened
During the final stages of an instrument flight rules arrival, the crew of a low-wing airplane was instructed by air traffic control to cross the destination airport and enter the left downwind leg for runway 30L. Simultaneously, a flight instructor and student pilot in a high-wing airplane were performing takeoff and landing practice in the right traffic pattern for runway 30R.
While the crew of the low-wing airplane correctly acknowledged their landing clearance for runway 30L, flight track data revealed that the aircraft performed a continuous descending turn that resulted in the plane rolling out aligned with the path for runway 30R. This maneuver caused the low-wing airplane to collide with the high-wing airplane roughly 0.25 nautical miles from the approach end of the runway.
Findings
Several contributing factors were identified in the collision:
- Excessive airspeed: The low-wing airplane was flying significantly faster than its nominal landing approach speed, which likely contributed to the pilot's inability to maintain the correct alignment with runway 30L.
- Unfamiliarity with procedures: The crew may have struggled with a recently implemented air traffic control routing procedure, leading to a miscalculation during the descending turn.
- Visual limitations: The aircraft configurations and the complex background made it difficult for the pilots to maintain a see-and-avoid capability. The pilot of the low-fly airplane likely had to shift his head position to view the runway, which obscured the oncoming traffic.
- Lack of traffic advisories: The air traffic controller did not issue traffic alerts to either aircraft, despite the proximity of the two planes. This was attributed to a flawed expectation regarding the timing of the aircraft's arrival at the runway.
- Air traffic control staffing: Severe staffing shortages and excessive mandatory overtime among controllers led to reduced training and diminished monitoring of aircraft progress.