PLT OF AN MO20 ON IFR APCH HAS NMAC WITH A PIPER 28 IN TFC PATTERN AT NON TWR ARPT.

Date: 1998-08 · Aircraft: M-20 Series Undifferentiated or Other Model

Anomalies: conflict-nmac|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-other-unknown|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far

Synopsis

PLT OF AN MO20 ON IFR APCH HAS NMAC WITH A PIPER 28 IN TFC PATTERN AT NON TWR ARPT.

Narrative

I WAS ON AN IFR FLT PLAN TALKING TO OMAHA APCH. 10 MI FROM MLE; IN CLASS C AIRSPACE; I HAD NOT YET LOCATED THE FIELD. FORWARD VISIBILITY WAS ESTIMATED AT 3-5 MI; SO I ELECTED TO FLY THE NDB RWY 12 APCH AND RECEIVED VECTORS FROM OMAHA APCH. OVER WEEGI; 3 MI FROM THE FIELD; I SAW MLE; INFORMED OMA AND GOT MY CLRNC FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO RWY 12 AND APPROVAL FOR A FREQ CHANGE. MLE AWOS RPTED WINDS CALM AND ONLY INST APCHS ARE TO RWY 12. AS SOON AS I SWITCHED TO MLE CTAF I HEARD A BROADCAST FROM A PIPER ARCHER STATING HIS POS AS A XWIND FOR RWY 30. I LOOKED OUT OF MY WINDOW AND SAW THE PIPER NO MORE THAN 300 FT OVERHEAD AND MAYBE 500 FT TO MY L. ANOTHER ACFT WAS ALSO IN THE PATTERN FOR RWY 30. THIS WAS A LITTLE TOO CLOSE FOR ME. NOT KNOWING THE EXACT POS OF THE OTHER PLANE MADE MY DECISION TO CHANGE TO RWY 30 EASY AND I IMMEDIATELY TURNED WHAT HAD BEEN A LNDG ON RWY 12 TO A XWIND ON RWY 30. THE ONLY DIFFICULT PART OF THE LNDG WAS STAYING FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM THE PIPER. WHAT COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS FROM HAPPENING? 2 THINGS COULD HAVE HAPPENED. I COULD HAVE ASKED FOR A FREQ CHANGE ABOUT 15 MI OUT AND TRIED TO FIND OUT THE RWY IN USE. THE BEST SOLUTION; HOWEVER; WOULD BE TO HAVE A DESIGNATED RWY OF CHOICE WHEN WINDS ARE RPTED AS BEING CALM AND IF THE RWY ONLY HAS AN APCH TO ONE RWY; THE RWY WITH THE APCH BECOMES THE DESIGNATED RWY. OMAHA APCH DID A WONDERFUL JOB OF KEEPING ALL IFR TFC SEPARATED BUT THEY HAD NO CTL OVER THE VFR TFC DOING TOUCH AND GOES ON A VERY HAZY DAY. ON HAZY DAYS; WITH LIMITED FORWARD VISIBILITY; IFR TFC CAN DO LITTLE BUT SET UP FOR AND FLY THE PUBLISHED APCH. BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO MONITOR THE ATC IN CHARGE; A FREQ CHANGE; 3 MI OUT IS NOT ENOUGH TIME TO MONITOR LCL TFC. OMAHA APCH SAW THE CHANGE IN RWYS AND HAD CALLED MLE BEFORE THE PLANE WAS EVEN DOWN. I WISH EVERY ARPT HAD A CTL TWR. I FEEL A LOT SAFER WITH THE HELP I GET FROM THE MEN AND WOMEN THAT MAN THE TWRS.

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