NMAC BTWN A BEECH BE200 IN THE TFC PATTERN DEPARTING AT 500 FT AGL AND 3 T38 MIL TRAINERS APCHING THE MIL BASE TO THE N AT THE SAME ALT AND APPROX 200 FT AWAY. RPTR TOOK EVASIVE ACTION ON THE LAST OBSERVED T38 BY TIGHTENING THE TURN TO HELP PROVIDE MORE SEPARATION. IT IS NOTED THAT THIS ARPT IS IN A MIL ALERT AIRSPACE USED FOR TRAINING PURPOSES.

Date: 1996-11 · Aircraft: Super King Air 200

Anomalies: conflict-nmac|other-unspecified

Synopsis

NMAC BTWN A BEECH BE200 IN THE TFC PATTERN DEPARTING AT 500 FT AGL AND 3 T38 MIL TRAINERS APCHING THE MIL BASE TO THE N AT THE SAME ALT AND APPROX 200 FT AWAY. RPTR TOOK EVASIVE ACTION ON THE LAST OBSERVED T38 BY TIGHTENING THE TURN TO HELP PROVIDE MORE SEPARATION. IT IS NOTED THAT THIS ARPT IS IN A MIL ALERT AIRSPACE USED FOR TRAINING PURPOSES.

Narrative

I WAS DEPARTING T47 IN WICHITA FALLS; TX; ON AN IFR FLT TO SDL; AZ. WE ATTEMPTED SEVERAL TIMES TO CONTACT CLRNC DELIVERY ON THE GND ON 121.2. NO CONTACT WAS MADE WITH SHEPPARD AFB CLRNC DELIVERY ON THIS FREQ. THE ANTENNA IS LOCATED OVER AT SHEPPARD AND OUR EXPERIENCE IS THAT YOU CAN'T REACH THEM MOST OF THE TIME. ACTIVE TFC WAS LNDG TO THE N; SO WE ELECTED TO DEPART VFR AND CALL SHEPPARD APCH CTL AIRBORNE. WE COULDN'T DEPART STRAIGHT AHEAD DUE TO XING SHEPPARD AFB; AND WE WERE UNCOMFORTABLE DEPARTING TO THE NW DUE TO THE SHEPPARD TFC AREA AND THE CLOSE PROX OF TALL RADIO TWRS BTWN KICKAPOO AND THE SPS VOR. WE DECIDED TO MAKE A R DOWNWIND DEP; GO AROUND THE S SIDE OF WICHITA FALLS AND WORK OUR WAY AROUND TO THE VOR FROM THE S. IN THE DOWNWIND LEG WE MADE A COUPLE OF ATTEMPTS TO TALK TO THE CTLR; BUT HE NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED OUR CALLS. AT 500 FT AGL AND ABEAM THE CTR OF KICKAPOO ARPT; AN AIR FORCE T38 PASSED OFF TO OUR L WITHIN 200 FT HORIZ AND AT OUR ALT. WE ELECTED TO MAINTAIN 500 FT AGL UNTIL WE WERE CLR OF THE ARPT. DURING THE TURN WBOUND AND JUST OFF THE END OF THE KICKAPOO RWY; WE SAW ANOTHER T38 ABOUT A MI S OF US HDG E. HE WAS SLIGHTLY ABOVE US AND STARTED A BANK TO THE N. WE TURNED A LITTLE HARDER TO GET WBOUND AND AVOID THE JET; BUT HE CONTINUED HIS TURN TOWARD US AND AGAIN IT CAME WITHIN 200-300 FT OF OUR ACFT. IT APPEARED HE NEVER SAW US. WE ARE STILL TRYING TO TALK TO THE SHEPPARD CTLR AND FINALLY HE CALLS BACK IN A TONE OF DISGUST TELLING US TO 'STAND BY.' I INITIATED A CLB TO GET OUT OF THE T38 RECOVERY PATHS AND WE NOTICE A THIRD JET APCHING FROM THE W; SLIGHTLY ABOVE US AND DSNDING; SO WE IMMEDIATELY GO BACK DOWN TO 500 FT AGL. AGAIN WE ARE PASSED ABOUT 200 FT ABOVE US AND LOOKING BACK WE NOTICE THAT HE PASSES DIRECTLY OVER THE KICKAPOO ARPT. ABOUT THIS TIME THE CTLR CALLS US BACK AND ISSUES AN IFR CLRNC. OUR CONCERN IS THAT: 1) THE T38'S DO NOT ADHERE TO ANY PARTICULAR PROC FOR RECOVERY TO SHEPPARD. WE HAVE IN THE PAST HAD THEM AS LOW AS 500 FT AGL TO 2500 FT MSL. 2) THE ANTENNA USED TO XMIT IFR CLRNCS FROM SHEPPARD TO KICKAPOO NEEDS TO BE RELOCATED TO ELIMINATE VISUAL DEPS IN MARGINAL CONDITIONS. 3) ARR PROCS TO LAND AT SHEPPARD ARE NOT PUBLISHED AND YET IT SEEMS THAT YOU'RE EXPECTED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THEM. WE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO SET UP FOR A SHEPPARD ARR AND NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO LAND OUR LEAR ON RWY 17 USING THE LEAD-IN LIGHTS. IT'S TOO TIGHT OF A TURN FOR A JET. AS A PROFESSIONAL PLT OF 28 YRS EXPERIENCE; I AM VERY CONCERNED WITH THE SAFETY FACTOR OF MIXING HIGH SPD MIL JET TFC WITH SLOW GA TFC IN SUCH CLOSE PROX OF EACH OTHER. THERE IS POOR SEPARATION PROVIDED BY BOTH THE CTLRS AND BY THE PROCS BEING EXERCISED. NEAR MISSES SEEM TO BE A TALK OF THE LOBBY AT KICKAPOO AND I FEAR THAT A DISASTER IS LOOMING IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

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