A C152 AND ANOTHER CESSNA ACFT HAD AN NMAC IN THE NEWPORT BEACH PRACTICE AREA.

Narrative

THE NEAR MIDAIR AND AIRSPACE VIOLATION OCCURRED WHILE FLYING NOV/XA/98 IN OUR PRACTICE AREA OFF THE COAST OF NEWPORT BEACH; CA; AT ABOUT XB20. THE DIMENSIONS OF THE PRACTICE AREA ARE SHOWN ON THE ENCLOSED COPY FROM THE LAX TAC. THE RED LINE FROM SNA TO THE NEWPORT PRACTICE AREA DENOTES THE APPROX COURSE OF OUR ACFT. THE GREEN HIGHLIGHTER DEPICTS THE APPROX BOUNDARIES OF THE PRACTICE AREA. LASTLY; THE RED CIRCLE FILLED IN WITH YELLOW HIGHLIGHTER DENOTES THE APPROX POS OF THE MIDAIR. THE C152 WE WERE FLYING ORIGINATED FROM SNA FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRAINING TOWARDS MY CFI RATING. THE CREW INCLUDED MYSELF AND A CFI OF 6 YRS FROM THE LCL FBO. THE GOAL OF THE FLT WAS FOR ME TO TEACH STALLS AND MCA TO THE CFI FOR EXPERIENCE TOWARDS MY CFI RATING. I CONTACTED SNA CLRNC AT AROUND XA00 AND REQUESTED A 'NEWPORT 150 DEG DEP TO THE PRACTICE AREA.' THIS DEP TAKES US OUT TO OUR NORMAL PRACTICE AREA BUT RESTRICTS US TO BELOW 2500 FT MSL UNTIL WE CONTACT SOCAL DEP. ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT DEPICTED ON EITHER THE LAX TAC OR THE LAX SECTIONAL; MOST CTLRS ARE AWARE OF THE AREA. WE LIFTED OFF RWY 19L AT ABOUT XA45 AND AT ABOUT 1300 FT MSL WE WERE HANDED OFF TO RADAR ADVISORIES ON 128.35. I CONTACTED ADVISORIES AND THEY CONFIRMED MY POS 3 MI SE OF THE ARPT. AT ABOUT 2100 FT; RADAR ADVISORIES SAID 'CESSNA XXX CONTACT SOCAL DEP ON 128.1 AND IF THEY DO NOT RESPOND; SQUAWK VFR OVER THE SHORELINE AND RESUME OWN NAV.' I CONTACTED SOCAL AND THEY RESPONDED THEY HAD ME IN RADAR CONTACT. I THEN REQUESTED WE WOULD LIKE TO MANEUVER AT OR BELOW 4000 FT IN 'THE PRACTICE AREA.' SOCAL CLRED US TO AT OR BELOW 4000 FT. THIS WAS THE LAST XMISSION FROM SOCAL WE HEARD FOR US UNTIL JUST BEFORE THE MIDAIR. HOWEVER; AS I PASSED THE SHORELINE I MADE THE MISTAKE OF SQUAWKING VFR. WHY I DID THIS I AM NOT QUITE SURE. I THINK IT WAS BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF THE LAST THINGS I HEARD FROM RADAR ADVISORIES. ALTHOUGH I HAD PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH THE AREA (ABOUT 5 YRS AGO) THIS WAS MY SECOND TIME TO THE PRACTICE AREA SINCE THEN. I THINK I WAS JUST CONFUSED ABOUT RADAR ADVISORIES TELLING ME TO SQUAWK VFR IF SOCAL DID NOT RESPOND. THE CFI ON BOARD DID NOT CATCH MY MISTAKE OF SQUAWKING VFR PASSING THE SHORELINE EITHER. SO WE CONTINUED UP TO 3000 FT TO PERFORM MINIMUM CTL AIRSPD AND STALLS WHILE STILL MONITORING SOCAL DEP CTL. (NOTE: SOME OF OUR PRACTICE AREA INCLUDED CLASS C AIRSPACE. THIS IS WHY WE FREQUENTLY REQUEST A 'DEP' SINCE WE WILL BE DOING SOME MANEUVERING WITHIN THE CLASS C AIRSPACE.) CONTRIBUTING FACTOR #1: I SHOULD HAVE NOT SQUAWKED 1200 PASSING THE SHORELINE. THIS TELLS THE CTLR THAT I DO NOT WANT ADVISORIES ANY MORE EVEN IF I DID NOT SAY IT VERBALLY OVER THE RADIO. CONTRIBUTING FACTOR #2: SINCE I ASSUMED WE WERE STILL CLRED IN CLASS C AT OR BELOW 4000 FT WE CONTINUED IN AND OUT OF THE AIRSPACE. AFTER ABOUT 20 MINS OF MANEUVERING IN OUR NORMAL PRACTICE AREA (IN AND OUT OF CLASS C) SOCAL DEP CONTACTED US AND ASKED US IF WE HAD CANCELED RADAR SVC. ABOUT 3 SECONDS LATER DURING THE CONVERSATION WITH THE CTLR A C152 FILLED OUR WINDSCREEN ABOUT 150 FT BELOW AND 100 FT TO THE R OF US. THE ACFT APPEARED TO BE A C152 OR C172. IT WAS MAKING A HARD L TURN AND AT THAT MOMENT I ALSO REACTED WITH A HARD L TURN. I DO NOT REMEMBER WHAT I SAID TO THE CTLR AFTER THE NEAR MIDAIR. MY INSTRUCTOR TOLD ME THAT I HAD ANSWERED YES TO THE QUESTION IF I HAD CANCELED RADAR SVC. SOCAL THEN ASSIGNED ME A XPONDER CODE AND WE RESUMED OUR MINIMUM CTL AIRSPD AND STALL WORK. OUR HDG DURING THE NEAR MIDAIR WAS ABOUT 300 DEGS. WE WERE AT 3000 FT PERFORMING STALL WORK. THE OTHER ACFT WAS ON ABOUT A 130 DEG HDG. CONTRIBUTING FACTOR #3: WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW MORE. HOWEVER; JUST BEFORE WE SAW THE ACFT WE WERE AT A HIGH ANGLE OF ATTACK SO OUR VISIBILITY WAS RESTR DIRECTLY AHEAD OF US. I REALIZE I WAS AT FAULT BY SQUAWKING VFR. EVEN THOUGH I DID NOT SAY ANYTHING ON THE RADIO ABOUT THIS; MY INSTRUCTOR NOTED THAT SQUAWKING 1200 IS AS GOOD AS CANCELING RADAR SVC. THE CTLR HAD OBVIOUSLY BEEN MONITORING US AND HAD GOTTEN A TFC CONFLICT ON HIS SCREEN JUST BEFORE HE CONTACTED US ON THE RADIO. MY INSTRUCTOR ALSO SAID THAT THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. I DID NOT INQUIRE WHAT HE MEANT BY SAYING 'ALL THE TIME.' BUT THIS DOES DISTURB ME IF THIS IS TRUE. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT ANY MIDAIR'S HAVE OCCURRED IN THIS PRACTICE AREA BUT I WOULD LIKE TO BE PRO-ACTIVE ABOUT THE SIT. I PLAN TO BRING IT UP TO THE OWNER OF THE LCL FBO AND ASK HIM WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT THE SIT. I DO ADMIT THAT SQUAWKING 1200 PASSING THE SHORELINE WAS POOR JUDGEMENT ON MY PART AND I DO NOT PLAN ON LETTING IT HAPPENING AGAIN. AIRSPACE WAS OBVIOUSLY VIOLATED TOO SINCE I WAS VFR AND NOT RECEIVING RADAR ADVISORIES. I DID NOT REALIZE THIS UNTIL THE CTLR QUESTIONED ME ABOUT MY POS AND THEN THE NEAR MIDAIR OCCURRED. THE CTLR MENTIONED NOTHING ABOUT OUR AIRSPACE VIOLATION AND DID NOT CONTACT US AFTER WE HAD LANDED.