NMAC BTWN 2 AIR TAXI C185 ACFT APCHING TO LAND AT AN UNCTLED ARPT. BOTH TOOK PRECAUTIONARY EVASIVE ACTION.

Date: 2000-07 · Aircraft: Skywagon 185 · Phase: descent

Anomalies: conflict-nmac|other-see-and-avoid

Synopsis

NMAC BTWN 2 AIR TAXI C185 ACFT APCHING TO LAND AT AN UNCTLED ARPT. BOTH TOOK PRECAUTIONARY EVASIVE ACTION.

Narrative

I RPTED ON CTAF THAT I WAS 12 MI NW OF TALKEETNA INBOUND TO LAND. I WAS KEEPING TRACK OF A DHC-2 AHEAD OF ME BY HIS POS RPTS AND SOON HAD HIM IN SIGHT. HE ANNOUNCED INTENTIONS TO LAND STRAIGHT-IN TO RWY 18; SO I PLANNED TO OVERFLY THE FIELD AND JOIN L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 18. I THEN HEARD ANOTHER ACFT TALKING TO A PERSON WHOM HE ADDRESSED AS 'SMA' AND GIVING HIS POS RELATIVE TO 'SMA.' FOR EXAMPLE; 'SMA; I'M ON YOUR L AND LOWER; HAVE YOU GOT ME IN SIGHT?' THEN HE SAID HE WOULD FOLLOW 'SMA.' I SIGHTED THE DHC-2 ON FINAL AHEAD OF ME AND WAS ABOUT TO ANGLE IN TO CROSS MIDFIELD. THEN I WAS STARTLED TO SEE A C185 FLYING PARALLEL TO ME ON MY L ABOUT 400 FT AWAY. I COULD SEE THE WIDE STRIPE ON THE SIDE; BUT COULD NOT READ THE STANDARD HEIGHT N-NUMBERS. I TURNED BACK PARALLEL TO HIM TO REGAIN GOOD SEPARATION. AFTER HE WAS WELL BELOW AND BEHIND ME AND HAD ANNOUNCED THAT HE WAS ON FINAL; I TURNED L AND CROSSED THE FIELD AT PATTERN ALT. I JOINED L DOWNWIND AND LANDED ON RWY 18. AFTER I HAD UNLOADED MY PAX; A PLT FROM THE AIR TAXI NEXT DOOR WALKED OVER; OBVIOUSLY AGITATED; AND DEMANDED TO TALK TO ME 'NOW!' HE SAID THAT I HAD FAILED TO ANNOUNCE MY POS ON THE RADIO; AND THAT I HAD DELIBERATELY FLOWN OVER HIM AT 100 FT ABOVE. I ANNOUNCED 12 MI OUT; OVERHEAD; L DOWNWIND; AND FINAL; BUT I COULD HAVE ANNOUNCED 5 MI OUT ALSO. REGARDING HIS CLAIM THAT I FLEW 100 FT OVER HIM; I COULD NOT HAVE FLOWN 100 FT OVER HIM SINCE I CROSSED THE FIELD AT PATTERN ALT WHILE HE WAS ON SHORT FINAL BEHIND ME AT NO MORE THAN 200 FT AGL. GREATER VERT SEPARATION COULD BE ACHIEVED BY OVERFLYING THE ARPT AT 1500 FT AGL; BUT THIS MAY CAUSE THE PROB OF HAVING AIRPLANES DSND ON TOP OF TFC ALREADY ON DOWNWIND.

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