AIRBORNE CONFLICT BTWN AN MLG ON DSCNT INTO A TERMINAL AREA AND AN SMA SEL ON A SIMILAR ALT AND DIRECTION.
Synopsis
AIRBORNE CONFLICT BTWN AN MLG ON DSCNT INTO A TERMINAL AREA AND AN SMA SEL ON A SIMILAR ALT AND DIRECTION.
Narrative
DSNDING THROUGH 11000 FT WE SAW ANOTHER ACFT SLIGHTLY ABOVE US; AHEAD AND TO OUR R. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS A LARGE ACFT; OPPOSITE DIRECTION; 2-5 MI AWAY; AND 1000 FT OR MORE ABOVE. HOWEVER; ABOUT 2-3 SECONDS LATER WE PASSED THE ACFT AND REALIZED IT WAS A WHITE SINGLE ENG CESSNA; ABOUT 1/4 MI AWAY OR LESS. IT APPEARED TO BE LEVEL AT ABOUT 11000 FT AND SBOUND; AS WE WERE. WE HAD DSNDED A FEW HUNDRED FT BELOW IT WHEN IT PASSED OFF OUR R WING. BY THE TIME WE RECOGNIZED OUR PROX TO THAT ACFT; THERE WAS NO TIME TO TAKE ANY EVASIVE ACTION; AND FORTUNATELY NO NEED. WE HAD RECEIVED NO TA FROM DAYTONA APCH CTL; AND OUR TCASII SYS WAS INOP (AS IT HAD BEEN FOR SEVERAL DAYS). WHEN QUERIED; APCH SAID THEY HAD NO TFC (XPONDER EQUIPPED; PRIMARY TARGET; OR OTHER) AT THAT LOCATION BUT THEY DID HAVE ANOTHER ACFT STILL AHEAD OF US AT 3000 FT. THE WX WAS CLR AT 11000 FT WITH 5-10 MI HORIZ VISIBILITY IN HAZE; WITH BROKEN CUMULUS CLOUDS BELOW (TOPS ABOUT 3000 FT) AND HIGH TWRING CUMULUS AHEAD; S OF US. IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO SEE THE WHITE ACFT AGAINST THAT BACKGND AS WE DSNDED DIRECTLY TOWARD HIM; AND WE ONLY SAW HIM WHEN HE BEGAN MOVING IN OUR WINDSCREEN; VERY FEW SECONDS BEFORE WE PASSED HIM. THIS SIT ILLUSTRATES THE FAILURE OF THE SEE AND AVOID CONCEPT TO INSURE ACFT SEPARATION. I BELIEVE A MIDAIR COLLISION WAS AVOIDED BY CHANCE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.