POTENTIAL CONFLICT IN A NIGHT OP AT A NON TWR ARPT CTAF.
Synopsis
POTENTIAL CONFLICT IN A NIGHT OP AT A NON TWR ARPT CTAF.
Narrative
ENRTE TO AUBURN ARPT (S50) FROM PIERCE COUNTY (IS0); I DETERMINED AUBURN WAS USING RWY 16. 2 ACFT ANNOUNCED THEY WERE USING RWY 16 AT AUBURN. THE WIND WAS 120 DEGS AT 5 KTS (SEATAC ATIS). UPON ARR AT AUBURN; I ANNOUNCED ENTERING A R DOWNWIND FOR RWY 16; AUBURN. MIDFIELD; I NOTICED THE WIND TEE WAS POINTED E. THEN I HEARD ANOTHER ACFT ANNOUNCING HE WAS ENTERING A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 34; TOUCH-AND-GO. THE XMISSION WAS WEAK AND NO ARPT WAS STATED. I ANNOUNCED TURN TO BASE FOR RWY 16; AUBURN; AND THEN TURN TO FINAL; RWY 16; AUBURN. ON FINAL; AS I PASSED OVER THE PWR LINES; I NOTICED LIGHTS ON AN ACFT OR HELI DSNDING TOWARDS RWY 34. I BANKED MY ACFT TO THE E. THE OTHER ACFT BANKED W. AS WE PASSED I OBSERVED IT WAS A CESSNA 152. I FLEW A WIDE PATTERN AROUND THE ARPT; TO RE- ENTER THE L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 34; BEHIND THE CESSNA 152. I ANNOUNCED MY POS; DOWNWIND; BASE AND FINAL. THE CESSNA 152 WAS SILENT. I BELIEVE THE CESSNA 152 PLT WAS A STUDENT. HE WAS USING RWY 34 TO AVOID XING THE PWRLINES AT THE N END OF THE FIELD. SINCE I DIDN'T SEE HIM ON ENTERING THE PATTERN; HE EITHER ENTERED BASE OR WAS MAKING A STRAIGHT-IN APCH TO AN UNCTLED ARPT AT NIGHT. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WRITE-UP IS TO ASK YOU TO PUBLISH THE NEED FOR EVERYONE TO BROADCAST 'BLIND' AT UNCTLED ARPTS AT THEIR ENTRY INTO DOWNWIND; BASE AND FINAL; AND TO PREFACE AND END THEIR XMISSION WITH THE NAME OF THE ARPT! AT NIGHT; DON'T FLY A STRAIGHT-IN APCH TO AN UNCTLED ARPT. XMIT YOUR POS AND LISTEN FOR OTHER TFC.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.