C182 PILOT REPORTS CRITICAL CONFLICT WITH ANOTHER CESSNA ARRIVING LGB AND NOT IN CONTACT WITH THE TOWER.
Synopsis
C182 PILOT REPORTS CRITICAL CONFLICT WITH ANOTHER CESSNA ARRIVING LGB AND NOT IN CONTACT WITH THE TOWER.
Narrative
I WAS TALKING TO THE TWR CTLR; CLRED TO OVERFLY THE ARPT AT 2000 FT FOR A R DOWNWIND TO RWY 25R. AS I APCHED THE DOWNWIND ENTRY; THE TWR CTLR CLRED ME TO BEGIN MY DSCNT TO PATTERN ALT (1000 FT MSL). ONCE ESTABLISHED ON DOWNWIND; I WAS 'CLRED TO LAND; RWY 25R.' AS I WAS TURNING BASE TO FINAL; I OBSERVED TFC OUT THE L WINDOW THAT WAS VERY CLOSE AND ON A COLLISION COURSE. I STARTED TO TAKE EVASIVE ACTION BACK TO THE R WHEN THE TWR CTLR URGENTLY CALLED TFC AND DIRECTED I CONTINUE A R 360 DEGS. I WAS FULL FLAPS AND 65 KTS MAKING HARD MANEUVERING AND EXCESSIVE BANK UNSAFE. IF I HAD NOT SEEN THE OTHER ACFT; I WOULD HAVE DSNDED DIRECTLY INTO HIM. LOOKING AROUND THE WING ON A HIGH WING ACFT FOR ALIGNMENT ON FINAL; I WAS IN A POOR POS TO SEE THE OTHER ACFT; AND WITH THE OTHER ACFT A HIGH WING THEY WERE IN A POOR POS TO SEE ME. AT NO TIME DID I HEAR THE TWR TALKING TO THE OTHER ACFT OR CLRING THEM FOR THE SAME RWY. I DO NOT KNOW IF THE OTHER ACFT WAS LINED UP ON THE WRONG RWY; INTENDING RWY 25L; WHICH IS CTLED ON A SEPARATE TWR FREQ. A POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN THIS INSTANCE IS THE ENTIRE APCH PROC AT LONG BEACH ARPT FOR TFC ARRIVING FROM THE E. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING LONG BEACH WILL NOT ACCEPT A HDOF FOR INCOMING VFR TFC. LONG BEACH AND LOS ALAMITOS AIRSPACE OVERLAP; WITH PRIORITY GIVEN TO LONG BEACH. I AND SEVERAL PLTS I KNOW HAVE EXPERIENCED TRANSITION FROM SOCAL APCH TO LOS ALAMITOS; ONLY TO BE DROPPED BY LOS ALAMITOS (FREQ CHANGE APPROVED; SQUAWK VFR) LITERALLY ENTERING LONG BEACH AIRSPACE. SINCE LONG BEACH IS A VERY BUSY ARPT; IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH COMS PRIOR TO FINDING YOURSELF WELL WITHIN CLASS D AIRSPACE. SINCE SOCAL WILL OFTEN TELL YOU WHAT RWY TO EXPECT; THE ASSUMPTION IS TO CONTINUE TO THE RWY WHILE TRYING TO ESTABLISH COMS. REALISTICALLY THERE ISN'T ANYWHERE ELSE TO GO WITHOUT POTENTIALLY CREATING EVEN GREATER CONFLICT CIRCLING IN VERY BUSY CLASS D AIRSPACE BTWN THE 2 FACILITIES. PLTS FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA KNOW YOU HAVE TO IMMEDIATELY REQUEST FREQ CHANGE DURING THE INITIAL CONTACT WITH LOS ALAMITOS; BUT THE SITUATION IS TOO COMPACTED AND UNWITTING AIRSPACE INCURSIONS ARE NOT UNCOMMON. I BELIEVE THE ENTIRE PROC ARRIVING FROM THE E CREATES AN UNSAFE FLT ENVIRONMENT; AND THAT IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THE ACFT I ALMOST COLLIDED WITH ARRIVED THROUGH A SIMILAR SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES. THE TIME FOR AN ACFT TO BE DROPPED AT LOS ALAMITOS AND BE IN THE SAME AIRSPACE AS LONG BEACH ACFT ON BASE LEG IS MAYBE 1 MIN. I BELIEVE THERE ARE ONGOING SAFETY CONCERNS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.