C172 PLT AND PA44 HAD LESS THAN LEGAL SEPARATION ON THE ILS APCH TO RWY 3 AT JNX IN GSB CLASS C.
Synopsis
C172 PLT AND PA44 HAD LESS THAN LEGAL SEPARATION ON THE ILS APCH TO RWY 3 AT JNX IN GSB CLASS C.
Narrative
I WAS FLYING THE ILS RWY 3 APCH AT SMITHFIELD/JOHNSON COUNTY ARPT (JNX); HAVING BEEN VECTORED TO AND CLRED BY SEYMOUR JOHNSON APCH CTL. CONDITIONS WERE SOLID IMC. AS I DSNDED ON THE GS I BROKE OUT OF THE SOLID CLOUD LAYER AT AN ESTIMATED 1300 FT MSL AND DISCOVERED I WAS IN TRAIL OF A SEMINOLE AT A DISTANCE OF NO MORE THAN 1000 FT; ALSO ON THE ILS. THE SEMINOLE SUBSEQUENTLY CALLED UNICOM AND ANNOUNCED ITS POS ON THE APCH. I EXECUTED A R 360 DEGS AND RE-ENTERED FINAL TO LAND. MEANWHILE THE SEMINOLE MADE A LOW APCH; ESTIMATED AT ABOUT 500 FT AND LEFT THE AREA. A NUMBER OF ISSUES: 1) SEYMOUR MUST NOT HAVE HAD THE TFC ON RADAR. IT WAS NEVER MENTIONED. PERHAPS THE TFC WAS TOO LOW FOR THEIR RADAR. 2) RALEIGH IS THE DESIGNATED APCH CTL ON THE APCH PROC BUT; COMING FROM WILMINGTON; NC; I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN VECTORED BY SEYMOUR. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE SEMINOLE WAS VECTORED BY RALEIGH? SEEMS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICT BUT I UNDERSTAND THE 2 ORGANIZATIONS COORDINATE THE SHARED RESPONSIBILITY. 3) THE SEMINOLE MAY HAVE BEEN FLYING VFR AND EXECUTED THE APCH ON THEIR OWN. IF SO; I WOULD ESTIMATE THEY VIOLATED THE 500 FT CLOUD CLRNC RULE. THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THE DANGER OF FLYING INTO A NON-TWRED ARPT WHERE 'LEGITIMATE' VFR FLTS MAY BE TAKING PLACE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH FAA ATREP REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: ANALYST CONTACT WITH THE FAA ATREP FOR GSB REVEALED THE RPTR WAS PROPERLY HANDLED. THE LOA IS SPECIFIC AS TO GSB'S RESPONSIBILITY. THERE WAS NO MENTION OF A RADAR COVERAGE PROB.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.