C172 flight crew reported the other aircraft performed a touch-and-go and turned into the flight crew's aircraft. The flight crew; on final approach to land; turned left to avoid a collision with the other aircraft.
Synopsis
C172 flight crew reported the other aircraft performed a touch-and-go and turned into the flight crew's aircraft. The flight crew; on final approach to land; turned left to avoid a collision with the other aircraft.
Narrative
Practice approach Runway XX. Making calls on CTAF regarding our location from 10 NM out. We hear one other aircraft taking off; with a subsequent call are staying in the pattern. 5-mile call made with altitude; distance to the runway. Other plane is on downwind now. We make a short final call out approximately 2 NM out on descent; and add that we plan to go missed. Next we hear a base call; followed by the plane turning base. ADS-B yellow warning pops up. We call again short final. Reply on CTAF; We got you in sight." I am 200 above minimums for the approach and throw off goggles. My safety pilot exclaims; "There he is; he is turning final inside of us!" I see the belly of his low wing plane right in front of me and maybe 200 below and we power and pitch up. As I am over the approach end of the runway; the plane is landing right below us; while we are at similar speeds; then makes a 'going around' call. We turn left to avoid a collision from their ascending into our flight path.I regret making a radio call asking 'is there an instructor on board of your plane;' as I recall two voices in their pattern calls. The female voice says 'yes.' I asked her; 'Can you relay to your instructor how dangerous and close that turn inside our final was?'The male voice then comes on the radio berating me; yelling about; 'Where did you go to school?'; 'How many hours do you have? You don't know the regulations. You are never supposed to do a straight-in approach; and you should merge in the traffic pattern.""Accident avoidance is both of our jobs;" was my only reply.Confusion about this regulation and the bizarrely dangerous attitude on display by turning inside the short final of another plane intentionally created a very unsettling situation for myself and my safety pilot/student. We should be able to do low approaches and made all the appropriate calls. He chose to make a base and then final inside of us; claiming to have us in sight. I think I will not likely continue another training approach when I see a pilot making a close base turn; and abort the practice approach sooner. At the same time I feel that this kind of attitude and endangerment in front of a student justified my making a call. I will not likely do that again either given the reaction I received."
Second reporter narrative
I was pilot monitoring / Safety Pilot for a CFII who was performing practice instrument approaches under foggles in VFR conditions for maintaining currency. We were flying the RNAV GPS XX approach to Runway XX at ZZZ. While maneuvering 10 or so miles southeast of the field; I was monitoring the CTAF and noticed a pilot flying lefthand patterns to [Runway] XX. I made a radio call announcing our intentions to fly a straight-in practice approach to [Runway] XX at this time. Once over the FAF; I made a second radio call announcing we were around 6 miles out and that our intentions were to make a low approach to approximately 400 ft. AGL; minimums; and then proceed out of the area on a runway heading. I made a third radio call announcing 3 miles out. At this time; it was noted the other aircraft made a position call of 'in the downwind for [Runway] XX.'A few moments passed while I was looking for the downwind traffic. I did not see it; so I made another position call of 'on short final for [Runway] XX.' After making this call; I observed the other plane; a low-wing; making a left turn onto base; above and inside us. The other plane announced a base turn and noted over CTAF 'that they had us in sight.' I remember the statement as I found it unlikely that a low-wing plane that was turning away from us and above us could possibly see us. We did have them in sight and slowed our speed a bit. I don't remember our exact altitude but we were above minimums - probably around 600 ft. AGL. The other plane asked if our plan was to fly a low approach; which we confirmed was still the case - we had been making position calls as such for the previous 10 minutes. I assumed; given this question; he was going to turn a 360 or turn left and rejoin the downwind. To my surprise; he dove towards the runway and landed on [Runway] XX. We came probably within about 500 ft. of each other.As we were flying over the runway on runway heading; near minimums but climbing; we noticed the other plane was doing a touch-and-go. We expedited our climb and turned left to exit the area. Had we continued our low approach on runway heading; the low-wing plane would have climbed into us. The pilot flying aboard my plane made a call to the other plane to debrief what had happened. The other plane was being piloted by a female; who had been making some earlier radio calls; with a male onboard who identified himself as a CFI. The pilot flying was upset at what had happened and voiced his frustration over the CTAF. The other CFI responded with comments such as 'I'm not sure where you got your license'; 'how many hours do you have'; 'you're in the wrong'; 'practice instrument approaches are supposed to sidestep the runway.'The pilot flying responded that we had been making position calls and that it was everyone's responsibility to 'see and avoid.'I believe the event causation was expectation bias. Myself as pilot monitoring; expected the other plane to extend downwind. The other aircraft expected us to sidestep from the approach. I believe we had the right-of-way; as by the time the other plane turned base; we were configured and preparing for landing; at a lower altitude; on a short final. Looking inward; we could have broken off the approach sooner; especially if the other aircraft had not called us 'in sight.'
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.