GA pilot reported a near miss entering the traffic pattern at a non-towered airport with a non-communicating aircraft; requiring evasive action.

Date: 2025-05 · Aircraft: Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172 · Phase: descent

Anomalies: conflict-nmac

Synopsis

GA pilot reported a near miss entering the traffic pattern at a non-towered airport with a non-communicating aircraft; requiring evasive action.

Narrative

I was descending from 3500 MSL on the return leg of my cross-country flight from ZZZ1. I made multiple calls starting at 10NM out stating my position and intention. My intention was to cross midfield; enter left downwind runway XX. I made regular traffic scans and checked my traffic scope multiple times to make sure there were no aircraft between me and the field. At one point; I scanned left toward the field; looked down for a second to ensure my mixture was set correctly; looked up; and saw a Bonanza coming from 2 o'clock directly at me. I instinctively reacted by nosing down slightly to make sure I didn't stress the wing; then turned around to try and see the plane that was now out of sight. I quickly looked back at my traffic scope; and the aircraft was not on it. I was never alerted to its position. I also never heard any radio calls from the aircraft; which I found odd considering he was at a lower altitude over an uncontrolled field.I did confirm that a radio call was never made by the aircraft. Looks like they did a low approach into runway XX; according to flight tracking.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.