Near miss at KGAI

This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.

On the ramp at Montgomery County Airpark (KGAI) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, I listened to the ATIS, then contacted Potomac Clearance to get my IFR clearance.

While I was putting the plan in my GPS, I listened in on the common frequency, but didn’t hear anyone.

I was fully loaded and felt Runway 32 was optimal for me, and noticed one plane ahead of me earlier used Runway 32.

I announced on the common frequency that I was taxiing to 32, and stopped at the hold short line. I contacted Clearance and said I was number one at Runway 32 at KGAI, and they said to stand by.

While I waited, I again listened, announced on CTAF that I was at Runway 32, but didn’t hear anyone. When I got my clearance void time, I announced again on CTAF that I was departing Runway 32 and when I lifted off I finally saw the student pilot veering to his right (my left) about 500 feet away and I turned opposite also in a steep climb.

I never heard the guy, and obviously we didn’t see one another until we were very close. He never said anything, and I chalked it up to a new pilot.

Potomac Approach did ask me to call, which I did when we got to ZZZ, and I explained the situation.

My take was that it was probably a new pilot who complained. I gave my viewpoint and thought we had cleared up the issue, until I was contacted a month and a half later.

I’m not normally based at KGAI, but have learned to be more vigilant, especially with all the flight training that goes on there.

In the future, I’ll probably wait longer after getting a void time, to give every pilot the opportunity to hear and respond call outs.

Primary Problem: Human Factors

ACN: 1868403