SINGLE ENG IFR ACFT PLT TAKES EVASIVE ACTION TO AVOID IFR DEPARTING TFC IN CMH AIRSPACE.
Synopsis
SINGLE ENG IFR ACFT PLT TAKES EVASIVE ACTION TO AVOID IFR DEPARTING TFC IN CMH AIRSPACE.
Narrative
MY FLT WAS HANDLED IN A ROUTINE MANNER AND CMH APCH CTL ASSIGNED ME 4000 FT AND A 360 DEG HDG AS A VECTOR TO OSU. WHEN I WAS JUST E OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA OF COLUMBUS AND W OF CMH AT 4000 FT ON MY ASSIGNED 360 DEG HDG; I SAW A CITATION (SII; I BELIEVE) SUDDENLY APPEAR IN MY R WINDSHIELD TRAVELLING FROM R TO L AT MY ALT. I IMMEDIATELY BANKED R TO PASS BEHIND THE CITATION AND AS IT FLEW BY; I READ ITS TAIL NUMBER RECOGNIZING IT TO BE AN XYZ COMPANY ACFT. I ESTIMATE THE CITATION WAS LESS THAN 100 YARDS FROM MY ACFT AT MY ALT. I CAME UP ON APCH CTL FREQ AND INDICATED THAT 'I WAS ALMOST JUST RUN OVER BY A CITATION.' THE CTLR INDICATED THAT THE TWR CTLR SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE CITATION FROM MY POS. AS I UNDERSTOOD HIM; HE INDICATED THAT THERE WAS A POINTER ON MY RADAR TARGET. (I ASSUME THAT IS SOME TYPE OF INDICATION ON THE RADAR SCREEN.) I INDICATED THAT THE CONFLICT HAD BEEN WAY TOO CLOSE AND HE AGREED. I LATER LEARNED THAT THE CITATION WHICH HAD DEPARTED FROM PORT COLUMBUS (IFR) WAS CLRED TO 5000 FT; THROUGH MY ALT. THIS NMAC WAS SECONDS (AT MOST) AWAY FROM BECOMING A DISASTER WHICH WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE LIVES OF AT LEAST 3 PERSONS. IN THAT THE CITATION WAS UNANNOUNCED BY APCH; WAS UNEXPECTED AND WAS APCHING MY ACFT FROM BELOW AND THE R; IT WAS DIFFICULT TO SEE UNTIL IT FILLED MY WINDSHIELD. I DON'T KNOW IF THE CITATION EVER SAW MY ACFT BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY COULD HAVE AVOIDED SEEING ME THROUGH THE CAPT'S WINDSHIELD. I FAULT ATC FOR CLRING ANOTHER IFR ACFT THROUGH MY ALT AND FOR FAILING TO NOTIFY ME OF THE VERY REAL CONFLICT WHICH COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A MIDAIR COLLISION. EVEN THOUGH THE WX WAS VFR; AT MY FORWARD SPD OF APPROX 170 KTS AND THE CITATION'S FORWARD SPD OF OVER 200 KTS BOTH OF US ON IFR CLRNCS; WITH SEPARATION ESSENTIALLY NON EXISTENT; THE POTENTIAL FOR A DISASTER WAS HUGE. HAD EITHER THE CITATION OR MY ACFT BEEN TRAVELING JUST A FEW KTS FASTER THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A COLLISION AND A TRAGIC TAKING OF LIVES. WHILE I RECOGNIZE THE SEE AND AVOID RESPONSIBILITY OF BOTH CREWS IN VFR CONDITIONS; AS A PRACTICAL MATTER; GIVEN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ONE CREW BUSY WITH DEP DUTIES AND THE OTHER WITH ARR TASKS; IFR SEPARATION SHOULD HAVE BEEN ASSURED. AS OF THIS WRITING; I HAVE CONTACTED TRACON AND THEY ARE INVESTIGATING THE INCIDENT. A FINAL THOUGHT -- WE ALL NEED TO BE EXTRA VIGILANT IN TERMINAL AREAS EVEN ON IFR FLT PLANS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.