PLT OF C172 HAD CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH B767 WHILE OPERATING ON A VFR 'BAY TOUR' CLRNC IN SFO CLASS B AIRSPACE.

Narrative

I AM A COMMERCIAL PLT (AIRPLANE; SINGLE-ENG) WITH CURRENT INST AND CFI RATINGS. I ALSO WAS A FORMER AIR TFC CTLR AT ORD. DURING THE SIT; I WAS FLYING FOR PLEASURE WITH 1 PAX. MY ACFT; A C172SP; WAS INVOLVED WITH AN ACR JET; PERHAPS A B757 OR B767 DEPARTING SFO. THE ACR PASSED NEEDLESSLY TOO CLOSE TO MY ACFT. I WAS ON A SBOUND SFO CLASS B VFR TRANSITION AND THE DEPARTING AND CLBING ACR WAS TURNED TOWARD MY ACFT. MY PAX AND I ESTIMATED THAT HE PASSED WITHIN 300-400 HORIZ FT (HE WAS TO MY R) AND PERHAPS 300 FT ABOVE MY ALT IN A CLBING R TURN. LOCATION WAS INSIDE CLASS B AIRSPACE AT SAN FRANCISCO. PRIOR TO ENTERING SFO CLASS B; AN APPROVAL FOR THE CLASS B TRANSITION WAS GRANTED BY SFO TWR; A DISCRETE XPONDER CODE WAS ASSIGNED; AND RADAR CONTACT WAS ESTABLISHED. EXCEPT ALONG THE COAST; WX WAS NOT A FACTOR AND THE VISIBILITY WAS AT LEAST 20+ MI. THERE WAS NO RELEVANT CLOUD COVER; THAT WAS NOT A FACTOR. AS I WAS ABOUT TO EXIT B AIRSPACE NBOUND; SFO TWR HANDED ME OFF TO NCT. I CONTINUED WITH THEM UNTIL THEY HANDED ME OFF TO SFO AGAIN FOR THE SBOUND CLASS B TRANSITION. AT APPROX TREASURE ISLAND I REQUESTED A SECOND CLASS B TRANSITION FROM APCH CTL. I WAS INSTRUCTED; AS EXPECTED; TO PROCEED W OF THE 101 FREEWAY THEN TO FLY SBOUND. THEY HANDED ME BACK OFF TO SFO TWR. I WAS LEVEL AT ABOUT 1500-1700 FT MSL. I ESTABLISHED RADIO CONTACT WITH SFO TWR FOLLOWING THE HDOF. ATC ISSUED TO ME A STANDARD WAKE TURB WARNING REGARDING A JET THAT HAD JUST ROTATED FROM RWY 28R. MUCH TO MY SURPRISE; THE JET PROCEEDED TO TURN TO THE R AND; ESSENTIALLY; CLBED RIGHT OVER ME. I WAS JUST W OF THE 101 FREEWAY BY ABOUT 1/8 MI. AS HE STARTED TO MAKE HIS R TURN AFTER TKOF; I COMMENTED TO MY PAX THAT 'I DIDN'T LIKE THE LOOK OF THIS.' IT WAS UNCLR TO ME HOW FAR AND HOW FAST TO THE R HE WAS TURNING; AND HIS RATE OF CLB. GIVEN HIS RATE OF TURN AND HEADING; HE PROBABLY PASSED ABOVE MY GND TRACK IMMEDIATELY BEHIND ME. AT THE POINT WHERE WE PASSED; HE APPEARED TO STILL BE IN A R TURN. MY IMMEDIATE CONCERN WASN'T A MID-AIR COLLISION BUT RATHER; SEVERE AND UNAVOIDABLE WAKE TURB. I DID BRIEFLY INITIATE A TURN TO MY L (AWAY FROM HIM); BUT THEN REALIZED THAT IF I WERE TO HIT HIS WAKE; I WANTED MY WINGS TO BE LEVEL AT THAT MOMENT SO I RESUMED MY PREVIOUS HEADING. I REDUCED MY THROTTLE; AT OR BELOW MANEUVERING (VA) SPD; SHOULD I HIT HIS WAKE. THE CTLR HAD ISSUED A TA TO HIM AT THE LAST MIN; BUT I DID NOT HEAR AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM HIM. I DON'T RECALL THAT THE TWR WAS WORKING ANY OTHER ACFT AT THIS TIME; ALTHOUGH THERE MAY HAVE BEEN 1 AIRPLANE ON APCH TO THE RWY 28'S. THIS SIT WAS TOTALLY AVOIDABLE. I COULD HAVE BEEN PAYING CLOSER ATTN TO THE TWR COM WITH THE JET BEFORE HIS TKOF CLRNC. PERHAPS IF I HAD HEARD THE ASSIGNED HEADING -- REALIZING THAT HE WOULD BE TURNING DIRECT AT ME -- I COULD HAVE RESPONDED DIFFERENTLY OR AT LEAST HAD TIME TO SPEAK UP. (THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE TKOF CLRNC WAS GIVEN PRIOR TO ME BEING ON THE TWR FREQ.) I COULD HAVE DEDUCED THE UPCOMING CONFLICT FROM THE ISSUANCE OF THE WAKE TURB WARNING. I COULD HAVE REALIZED THE POTENTIAL CONFLICT SOONER AND MADE A HARD L TURN TO THE E; AND A STEEP DSCNT; TO INCREASE SEPARATION. ATC COULD HAVE BRIEFLY DELAYED THE TKOF INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JET. ATC COULD HAVE HELD THE JET IN POS UNTIL I CROSSED THE DEP END OF THE RWY. ATC COULD HAVE DELAYED ANY TURN GIVEN THE JET; CONTINUING HIM ON A RWY HEADING. ATC COULD HAVE GIVEN THE JET A DIFFERENT INITIAL HEADING UNTIL CLR OF ME; A PARTIAL TURN TO THE R WOULD HAVE CREATED A DIVERGENCE COURSE WITH MINE. ATC COULD HAVE GIVEN HIM A SLOWER RATE OF TURN; THAT WOULD HAVE HAD THE JET TURNING AND CLBING WELL BEHIND ME. ATC COULD HAVE GIVEN ME A BETTER ALERT AS TO THE PROJECTED FLT PATH OF THE JET WHEN THE WAKE TURB WARNING WAS ISSUED; THAT WOULD HAVE ALLOWED ME TO TURN TO THE L (E) TO INCREASE SEPARATION. CERTAINLY THE CTLR KNEW THAT THIS SIT WAS POSSIBLE; GIVEN HIS WAKE TURB WARNING TO ME. THIS WAS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. I WAS IN VISUAL CONTACT WITH THEJET FROM SHORTLY AFTER HE ROTATED; UNTIL HE PASSED OVER ME. I COULD SEE THE SIT DEVELOPING; BUT I WAS UNABLE TO PROJECT HIS RATE OF TURN AND CLB TO MY OWN POS. FOR SEVERAL MOMENTS; I WAS UNABLE TO PROJECT HIS RATE OF CLB TO MY OWN ALT. ACCORDINGLY; I MADE NO EVASIVE TURNS TO AVOID A POSSIBLE COLLISION; NOR DID I MAKE AN EMER DIVE; ALTHOUGH BRIEFLY I CONSIDERED BOTH. A CLB WAS NEVER AN OPTION. AFTER IT BECAME APPARENT THAT HE WOULD PASS JUST ABOVE ME AND SLIGHTLY TO MY R; MY NEXT CONCERN WAS THE VERY REAL POSSIBILITY OF PASSING THROUGH HIS WAKE. I HAVE REPLAYED THIS SIT SEVERAL TIMES OVER IN MY MIND; AND TRIED TO IMAGINE WHAT I COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY. SINCE I WAS UNCLR AS TO HIS INTENTIONS; ANY VARIATION FROM MY HEADING AND ALT COULD HAVE BEEN EITHER BETTER OR WORSE. I FEEL THAT I WAS IN THE RIGHT. REALISTICALLY; I THINK THIS WAS A CTLR INDUCED SIT COMBINED WITH THE JET NOT LOOKING OUT HIS WINDOW AFTER THE TA. I AM NOT SURE THE JET EVER SAW ME. THE CTLR HAD A VERY LIGHT WORKLOAD AND THERE WAS NO APPARENT PRESSURE FOR HIM TO TURN THE ACR OVER MY POS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR ADVISED THAT HE DOES NOT RECALL BEING ASSIGNED A PARTICULAR ALT IN HIS TRANSITION CLRNC. HE HAD NOT MONITORED SFO ATIS AND DID NOT KNOW WHAT DEPS WERE IN PROGRESS AT SFO. HE ALSO REINFORCED HIS INABILITY TO PREDICT THE FLT PATH OF THE DEPARTING LGT AND THUS INITIATE AN APPROPRIATE AVOIDANCE MANEUVER.