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.
While conducting an aerobatic discovery flight with a student, we finished the flight by demonstrating low-level procedures and verifying terrain clearance.
I had been monitoring the local practice area frequency and had made a call when descending down from aerobatic altitude to low cruising altitude around the mountain. I heard no traffic area calls in my vicinity.
Finishing rounding the mountain we were circling, the ADS-B and GPS had been out due to the aerobatic maneuvers previously completed at altitude earlier in the flight.
I received an ADS-B traffic alert same altitude and began a climbing turn to try to obtain visual on the traffic and remain clear. I engaged the aircraft’s smoke system in order to aid traffic in establishing visual contact with my aircraft.
During this climb the other aircraft flew directly under my wing at a shockingly close distance. Had I not been in an aircraft with excellent climb and maneuvering performance, it could have ended very badly.
Primary Problem: Human Factors
ACN: 2106487
Want motor vehicle enforcement? Make all air travel on designated airways at prescribed altitudes. All practice areas be designated and off of airways. They and airports would have an airway “off ramp” direct to facility.
Or what is “shockingly close”? Who was running up and down in altitude around a mountain expecting transient aircraft to know where every places’ practice areas are and what frequencies they may be on? Was the transient aircraft at the correct altitude for direction of travel and you descended in front of it?
Gets a little messy trying to compensate/sanitize for aircraft practicing and/or in the pattern.
Be careful what you wish for.
And just what would the charges against reckless pilot be? Flying around with his ADSB working. Cruising along.
Just wondering why the reporter is off scott free for not seeing the other guy either.
In an ideal world with appropriate aeronautical law enforcement, that offending pilot would be immediately grounded, charged with reckless flying, and prosecuted for reckless endangerment of another pilot. Unfortunately, what exists for ground transportation doesn’t exist in the air. We’re still in the skull cap, goggles and white scarf era of GA barnstorming.
/J
It is interesting how the CFI describes their transition from aerobatic flight, to finishing up “by demonstrating low-level procedures and verifying terrain clearance.”
I would like to have witnessed that.
But there is absolutely nothing in this report …zero, zilch, nada …to indicate that they even came close to violating any FAR, or operated in a manner that could be considered “reckless”.
That includes cruising low level around a mountain.
Unfortunately, NMACs happen all the time, regardless of how diligent the pilots are in clearing their flight paths. I’m glad they were able to safely avoid a disaster.
Respectfully, Mr. Potter, your frequent, less-than-complimentary characterization of general aviation pilots, without regard to the facts, is getting old.
Spot on, Tom!
If your ride has an open cockpit, two wings, a radial engine and was built in 1929 (like
mine), then helmet, goggles and scarf would be considered appropriate attire…