1994-07 · NASA ASRS report 276849
CESSNA 150 ON FINAL APCH MAKES GAR TO AVOID COMMUTER WHICH WAS CLRED FOR TKOF.
I WAS APCHING THE KALAMAZOO/BATTLE CREEK INTL ARPT FROM THE NE IN A CESSNA 150. WHEN I WAS HANDED OVER TO THE TWR FROM APCH CTL; MY LNDG APCH INSTRUCTIONS WERE TO RPT A 2 MI R BASE FOR RWY 27. WINDS WERE 260 DEGS AT 11 KTS. I RPTED ON THE 2 MI BASE AS INSTRUCTED AND WAS GIVEN A CLRNC TO LAND. ALSO INCLUDED IN MY CLRNC WAS AN INSTRUCTION TO SQUARE MY TURN TO FINAL WHICH I COMPLIED WITH. THEN WHILE STILL ON THE BASE LEG I PERFORMED MY PRE-LNDG CHKLIST AND BEGAN TO CONFIGURE THE ACFT FOR LNDG. IMMEDIATELY AFTER TURNING FINAL I STARTED SCANNING THE INTERSECTING RWY 35 FOR TFC. RWY 35 IS KALAMAZOO'S MAIN INST RWY. RWY 35/17 IS USED BY ALL THE COMMUTER AIRLINES SVCING THE ARPT. AS I LOOKED DOWN TO THE APCH END OF RWY 35 THERE WAS A COMMUTER ACFT HOLDING SHORT OF THE RWY. AS I CONTINUED MY APCH THE COMMUTER ACFT WAS GIVEN CLRNC TO TAXI IN POS AND HOLD. AT THIS POINT I WAS A MI OUT AND STILL HAD CLRNC TO LAND. AT A 1/2 MI AND 300 FT AGL; THE COMMUTER ACFT WAS GIVEN CLRNC TO TKOF. WITHOUT DELAY I EXECUTED A GAR. MY APCH SPD WAS 70 KTS. I TURNED SHARPLY TO THE S IN AN ATTEMPT TO PASS BEHIND THE COMMUTER ACFT. 5-7 SECONDS ELAPSED BTWN THE TIME THE COMMUTER ACFT WAS GIVEN CLRNC FOR TKOF AND WHEN I CALLED THE TWR INFORMING THEM I WAS GOING AROUND. WHEN I PASSED OVER THE INTXN OF RWYS 35 AND 27 I WAS DIRECTLY OVERHEAD OF THE COMMUTER ACFT (ABOUT 300-350 FT) AND THE OTHER ACFT HAD JUST LEFT THE GND AND CLBING. HE WAS AROUND 20- 30 FT OFF THE SURFACE. MOST PLTS APCHING RWY 27 TOUCH DOWN AT THE INTXN OF RWY 27 AND RWY 35. THERE ARE OBSTRUCTIONS ON THE APCH SO I DON'T GO FOR THE NUMBERS. I USUALLY LAND 500-700 FT DOWN FROM THE THRESHOLD OR WHERE THE 2 RWYS MEET. IF A PLT IN THIS SIT WOULD HAVE NOT HEARD THE OTHER ACFT'S CLRNC FOR TKOF; AND THEN LOWERED HIS/HER L WING FOR A XWIND LNDG; THIS SIT COULD HAVE DEVELOPED INTO THE NEEDLESS DEATHS OF SEVERAL PEOPLE. AFTER LNDG I WENT TO THE TWR TO FILE A FORMAL COMPLAINT. I WAS TOLD THAT THEY WERE TRAINING ATC PERSONNEL HERE. THE COMMUTER ACFT WAS DEPARTING ON AN IFR FLT TO ORD. I WAS TOLD THAT THIS ACFT HAD TO LEAVE WITHIN A 2 MIN TIME FRAME IN ORDER TO BE CLRED INTO ORD ON THEIR TIME SLOT OR WAIT ON THE GND AT LEAST AN ADDITIONAL 1/2 HR. ALSO; THE PLTS OF THE DEPARTING ACFT DID NOT SEEM TO BE AWARE OF MY POS IN THE TFC PATTERN. THERE ARE PLTS WHO DON'T QUESTION THE ABILITIES OF ATC PERSONNEL. THIS IS A VERY TAXING SIT TO ASK A PVT PLT WITH 160 HRS TO EXECUTE A GAR WHEN HE HAS A COMMUTER ACFT SCREAMING AT HIM! I FEEL THAT ATC HAD A MORAL OBLIGATION TO GIVE ME A GAR FIRST; THEN INSURE THAT I WAS CLR OF THE INTXN; BEFORE GIVING THE OTHER ACFT CLRNC TO TKOF. I UNDERSTAND THAT AIRLINE ACFT ARE OPERATING UNDER A VERY TIGHT SCHEDULE; BUT I DON'T FEEL THAT THIS FACT SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CREATE POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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