LATE TA BY TRACON CTLR FAILS TO PREVENT AN NMAC BTWN A DEP CHEROKEE AND AN ARR C172 FOR VOR APCH TO RWY 25 NEAR ZACKS INTXN; SBA; CA.

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I WAS MAKING A XCOUNTRY FLT WITH AN INST PLT. I WAS ACTING IN MY CAPACITY AS A CFII AND FLYING IN THE R SEAT OF A C172. WE WERE ON AN IFR FLT PLAN AND UNDER CTL OF SBA APCH CTL ON 125.4. I WAS SCANNING THE SKIES AND WATCHING THE INST PLT FOLLOW RADAR VECTORS TO INTERCEPT THE FINAL APCH COURSE FOR THE VOR 25 APCH TO SBA. I HEARD SBA TELL A CHEROKEE THAT THERE WAS TFC WITHIN 1 MI. AT THAT TIME; I NOTICED A CHEROKEE WITH ITS NOSE UP IN A CLB APCHING FROM 1 O'CLOCK POS APPROX 300 FT HIGHER THAN WE WERE. THE PLT IN THE L SEAT ALSO ESTIMATED THE DISTANCE AS 300 FT. WE SAW THE TFC AT THE SAME TIME. THERE WAS NO TIME FOR EVASIVE ACTION. THE CHEROKEE PASSED OVERHEAD GENERATING SOME TURB TO OUR ACFT. SBA NEVER NOTIFIED US OF ANOTHER ACFT IN OUR VICINITY. AS THE FREQ WAS QUITE BUSY; I DIDN'T RPT THE INCIDENT UNTIL AFTER LNDG AND HDOF TO GND CTL. I SUBMITTED AN ORAL NEAR MISS RPT WITH SBA TWR VIA TELEPHONE. I ASSUME THE TAPES WILL BE PULLED AND A FULL INVESTIGATION INITIATED. WE WERE UNDER RADAR CTL AND ON IFR FLT PLAN AND CLRNC RECEIVING VECTORS. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT WHILE UNDER AN IFR FLT PLAN ATC IS TO PROVIDE SEPARATION. THIS CERTAINLY DIDN'T HAPPEN IN THIS CASE. BASED UPON THE FACTS OF THE SIT; IT IS MY OPINION THAT SBA APCH FAILED TO MAINTAIN SEPARATION BTWN MY ACFT AND THE CHEROKEE WITH ALMOST DISASTROUS RESULTS. IF A CTLR MAKES A MISTAKE HE/SHE GETS TO GO HOME. THE PLT MAY NOT BE SO FORTUNATE. THE PLT I WAS FLYING WITH WAS PHYSICALLY ILL AFTER LNDG DIRECTLY DUE TO THIS INCIDENT.