T-18 HOMEBUILT ACFT LANDED AT UNCONTROLLED ARPT ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT ANOTHER ACFT HAD SIMULTANEOUSLY LANDED ON THE SAME RWY IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

Date: 2007-09 · Aircraft: Amateur/Home Built/Experimental · Phase: landing

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|less-severe

Synopsis

T-18 HOMEBUILT ACFT LANDED AT UNCONTROLLED ARPT ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT ANOTHER ACFT HAD SIMULTANEOUSLY LANDED ON THE SAME RWY IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

Narrative

FLYING A HOMEBUILT/EXPERIMENTAL THORP T-18 IN AN AREA WITH WHICH I AM VERY FAMILIAR; I APCHED MVI TO LAND. CONDITIONS WERE CAVU. SURFACE WIND WAS LIGHT; FAVORING THE PREFERRED CALM WIND RWY; RWY 20. I ENTERED THE PATTERN FOR RWY 20; AND MADE SUCCESSIVE POS RPTS ON CTAF; IN AIM-PRESCRIBED MANNER. SECONDS BEFORE TOUCHDOWN I SAW AN ACFT ON THE GND AT THE FAR END OF THE RWY; HEAD-ON TO ME; APPARENTLY HAVING LANDED OPPOSITE DIRECTION ON RWY 2. BOTH ACFT HAD TOUCHED DOWN ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY; AT THEIR RESPECTIVE ENDS; AND WERE SLOWED TO TAXI SPD WHILE STILL SEPARATED BY MOST OF THE LENGTH OF THE RWY. I TURNED AROUND AND BACK-TAXIED TO THE RAMP; FOLLOWED BY THE OTHER ACFT; A CIRRUS SR22. IN CONSULTATION WITH THE PLT OF THE CIRRUS; IT WAS DETERMINED THAT HE HAD NOT HEARD ANY OF MY RPTS ON CTAF NOR I HIS; BECAUSE HE WAS ON AN INCORRECT FREQ; THAT FOR HIS PREVIOUS ARPT OF LNDG. HIS R SEAT PAX SAW MY ACFT ON THE RWY AT ABOUT THE SAME MOMENT I BECAME AWARE OF THE CIRRUS. THE CIRRUS PLT WAS VERY APOLOGETIC AND CONSIDERED THE EVENT TO BE HIS FAULT; BUT MY VIEW IS THAT WE BOTH HAD A RESPONSIBILITY TO 'SEE AND AVOID;' AND I HAD DEFINITELY BEEN DEFICIENT IN THAT REGARD. THIS EVENT WAS A SHOCK TO ME AND CAUSED ME TO REVIEW WHERE I HAVE BEEN DIRECTING MOST OF MY SCAN DURING THE LATE PHASE OF FINAL APCH AND THE EARLY PHASE OF TKOF. I BELIEVE COMPLACENCY HAD SET IN AND I HAVE BEEN 'LOOKING BUT NOT SEEING.' I NEED TO ASSIGN MORE ATTN TO THE OPPOSITE FINAL APCH COURSE. ADDITIONALLY; MY SCAN COULD STAND TO BE FINE TUNED IN GENERAL IN THE PATTERN AND ITS ENVIRONS -- THE OTHER ACFT MUST HAVE BEEN WITHIN MY IMMEDIATE PROX BEFORE LNDG; YET I NEVER SAW IT. BY EXTENSION; MY SCAN NEEDS IMPROVEMENT IN ALL OTHER PHASES OF FLT.

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