Avoiding Close Calls

During the later stages of my airline transport pilot (ATP) training in the early 1990s I was flying a Piper Seminole with my instructor in the busy skies of the San Francisco Bay Area. Because earning the ATP certificate is primarily accomplished through simulated instrument training, I was wearing a view-limiting hood to keep my focus on the instrument panel and away from any outside references. We were preparing to perform a VOR approach, and the Travis Air Force Base approach controllers were clearing us for the approach when I experienced the single scariest moment in all my years in aviation.

"Seminole Two-One-Eight-Five-Alpha, turn right heading 210 degrees, cleared VOR 19R approach, contact Concord Tower 119.7."

"Seminole Two-One-Eight-Five-Alpha turn right...what's happening?" I began to reply.

"Take off your hood," my instructor said.

"Oh, my God." A Beech Bonanza, already talking to the tower and not on the approach control frequency, had cut across our path - just underneath us. As I pulled off my hood, I could not believe that it was literally within a wingspan's distance of us. It was so close I could easily see the individual rivets on the airplane's fuselage. What was more disturbing was the sudden realization that it would have hit us if my instructor had not taken radical, almost violent evasive action. While I was trying to center the VOR needle, he unexpectedly pulled the airplane with great force into a furious nose-up wingover. Between that and the sight of another airplane close enough to touch, we called it a day.

On the way home we talked about how fortunate we were and how my instructor had saved the day. His decisive action had kept the Bonanza from hitting us. If he had been pointing at an instrument or looking down at the approach chart, our patent leather shoes would be up for grabs right now.

I have had two other close calls, although neither was nearly as dramatic as the near-miss described above. Strangely enough, the first one took place years earlier on the same VOR approach to the same airport while I was earning my instrument rating. In this case a light twin overtook our Cessna far too close for comfort. I complained to the tower controller, and he chewed out the offending pilot. In this case the other pilot was guilty of very poor judgment but at least had seen us.

The last time I had to take evasive action was when I was giving flight instruction. Another pilot heard our call to turn right base and he turned left base, putting his airplane on a direct collision course with us. He never flew close enough to collide with our airplane, but his lack of positional awareness did cause me to make a climbing turn and report to the tower. The other pilot apologized and bought us Snickers bars in the airport bookshop.

Though general aviation is very safe, comparatively speaking, it is not perfect. Most potential problems a pilot may encounter can be safely avoided with quality maintenance and pilot skill, enhanced by experience and recurrent training. If a systems failure does occur in flight, pilots usually are able to achieve a positive outcome. Then there are midair collisions. This is the worst situation a pilot can encounter because skill often is replaced by luck.

Not all midair collisions involve fatalities - in fact, one or both aircraft may remain flyable after a collision. However, your piloting skills and knowledge will serve you better in avoiding midair collisions and near misses. Recent numbers from the National Transportation Safety Board show a reduction in midair collisions in the United States, according to the AOPA Air Safety Foundation (ASF). From January through August 2001, the number of midairs dropped from 15 to 6 when compared to the first eight months of 2000, while fatal accidents were down from 7 to 4. General aviation accidents overall were down 4 percent, from 1,314 to 1,262, during the period. ASF while fatal accidents are up just one from 232 to 233. The foundation researched midair collisions extensively last year and embarked on a major collision awareness education effort that included national seminars and a videotape. ASF's Collision Avoidance Safety Advisor, available for free n the Internet ( www.aopa.org/asf/publications/sa15.pdf ), is a must read for student and new pilots.

To avoid midair collisions and near misses, it is very important to have a clear picture of where and when they are most likely to occur. Airports, as the principal location of aircraft activity, are the most common scene of near misses and midair collisions. These incidents most commonly take place during daylight hours in clear VFR weather conditions. Obviously pilots cannot avoid airports, so the way we operate at them should be carefully considered.

For all aircraft operating in visual conditions, the regulations clearly place upon the pilot responsibility for avoiding other aircraft. Air traffic controllers can help pilots with that task. All primary airports in Class B and Class C airspace are under radar control. That means the controller has access to a radar picture of the airspace adjacent to the airport. But radar and the people who use it can miss potential conflicts, and controllers are not immune to technological errors. First, all IFR aircraft have the controller's priority and during peak times they cannot always provide advisories to VFR traffic. And the radar equipment itself can be affected by weather, incorrect squawk codes, Mode C inaccuracies, and even the pilot's failure to turn on the transponder.

At most Class D airports radar is not standard equipment so the pilot's and the controller's eyesight become the primary tool for avoiding potential traffic conflicts. This can lead to confusion because the controller can mistake your Cessna 172 for another Cessna 172 at a different point in the pattern. If the pilot is not clear about his position the ontroller may be talking to one aircraft while looking at another. Your job is to make accurate position reports and quickly acknowledge - and correct, if necessary - the controller.

Nontowered airports have even more potential traffic conflicts because there is no controller and some pilots insist on making nonstandard pattern entries and flying nonstandard traffic patterns. The commonly held misconceptions that you can land anywhere you want and enter or leave the pattern as you see fit are simply not true, and are clearly unsafe.

At or near all airports, pilots should always make sure they are making accurate position reports by either giving a distance and cardinal direction from the airport or reporting a known landmark they are near. Many pilots make the error of saying they are north of the airport because they are flying north but are actually coming from the south. Look at the bottom of your heading indicator when making your position report.

Other potential collision-causing factors at all airports, lack of situational awareness and miscommunication, can be avoided by using proper radio phraseology, confirming or clarifying any information that is not clear, and listening to other traffic. Don't merely concern yourself with your own conversation with the controller.

Although the en route portion of the flight may be inherently less risky than terminal operations, there are plenty of opportunities for aircraft to get too close to each other outside the airport environment. A thorough scan is always important. Expect aircraft to congregate over VORs or landmarks that serve as reporting points. You should not become too distracted being a tour guide to meet your communication and scanning responsibilities. It may help to brief your passengers and have them speak up if they see any aircraft approaching. They often see approaching aircraft that a busy pilot misses.

The FAA's recommendation of focusing about 20 percent of your attention inside and 80 percent of your attention outside of the aircraft during VFR flight is often reversed in practice (particularly during flight training - IFR training, with student and instructor concentrating on the instrument panel, is even worse). When scanning, focus on a distant object outside and make a slow visual sweep.

Another common cause of near misses en route is encountered when aircraft take the same routes and altitudes into and out of airports. This problem is often much worse in the mountains, along the coast, through busy airspace, and over and near points and events of great interest. I counted 17 aircraft circling over the Golden Gate Bridge fireworks display the last Fourth of July. Isn't it safer to watch the fireworks from the ground?

Can you choose a higher altitude or a slightly different route to get you over a mountain pass or a large city? Very few places, even in the Rockies or the Sierras, limit pilots to only one altitude or route of flight. Almost certainly there is a course that can be safely flown that will allow you to avoid most of the traffic.

Scud running (sneaking below low clouds) is not only dangerous because it puts you at risk of hitting terrain, but it can also put two aircraft into direct conflict, especially near airports. And it goes without saying that a pilot must adhere to the hemispheric rule en route.

Pilots flying in coastal areas often hug the shoreline at low altitudes. Since the hemispheric rule does not apply below 3,000 feet above ground level, pilots are usually at the same altitude going in opposite directions. Give yourself a course off the beaten path. Instead of hugging the coast with everyone else, fly about a quarter-mile off shore, and you will avoid the vast majority of coastal traffic. And always make sure you have the rotating beacon on, the position lights at night, and even the strobes and landing lights around the pattern. Landing lights can be used in any high-traffic area to make your aircraft more conspicuous to others.

It has been said that two airplanes taking off at the same time, 10 miles apart, and heading toward each other in the opposite direction could not hit each other if they tried. Midair collisions are very rare, according to the FAA Fewer than 20 occur in the United States every year, representing less than 1 percent of all aviation accidents. With collision avoidance equipment aboard a growing number of primarily larger but increasingly smaller aircraft, this number is expected to go down even further.

But the danger is always there. And if actual midair collisions are rare, near misses are all too frequent. We all have to look out for each other.

Avoiding Near Misses At Night

• Make sure all aircraft lighting is working properly.
• Avoid exposure to white light prior to night flying.
• Understand what other aircrafts' position lights are telling you - there are red, green, and white lights on all aircraft.
• Do not confuse moving aircraft lights against urban lights with highway traffic on the ground.
• Use as much red lighting in the cockpit as possible.
• Explain aircraft lighting to passengers and instruct them to help you scan for traffic.

Avoiding Near Misses En Route

• Always look before you turn.
• Make regular clearing turns.
• Always include your passengers' eyes in your scan.
• Take slightly different routes and altitudes than those commonly used by pilots when flying over mountains, along the coast, or over large cities.
• Be the PIC; if passenger talk or distracts your pilot duties, put a stop to it.
• Learn your aircraft's blind spots.
• Keep your scan constant.
• Never scud run.
• Fly at "unusual" altitudes when in very crowded skies (2,300 feet mean sea level instead of 2,500 feet, for example).

Avoiding Near Misses In The Terminal Area

• Look at bottom of heading indicator when making position reports.
• At airports with parallel runways, do not assume the traffic on final approach is landing on the other runway.
• At airports with multiple aircraft categories-airplanes and helicopters, for example-know the pattern altitude of the other types of aircraft.
• Always ask for clarification from ATC if you do not understand or are not clear about your instructions.
• Learn your aircraft's blind spots by scanning in all directions before starting the engine.
• Listen closely to all other traffic on the radio.
• Avoid nonstandard radio terminology-no "Roger wilcos," etc.
• Know and avoid peak-time airport activity.
• Correct ATC if the controller makes an error with you or other traffic.