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Atlas / ASRS / ACN 1547761

NASA · Aviation Safety Reporting System

PA24 pilot reported a NMAC with another light aircraft in the vicinity of 1V6 airport.

ACN 1547761 2018-05 PA-24 Comanche Parachutist / Aircraft Conflicts
DescentPart 91

What is ASRS?

The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.

Pilot narrative

Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time); anonymization placeholders are ZZZ, X, Y.

I was flying into 1V6 from the northwest. I was flying my Piper Comanche VFR. Skies were clear and it was a fairly smooth day. I was not on flight plan and did not have flight following due to lack of radar coverage. I made an announcement on CTAF when I was approximately 21 miles out stating my position, altitude and intentions of landing at 1V6. I then started descending. There was a fair amount of radio traffic including a jump plane that had dropped a jumper and was circling around for another drop. There was no one in the traffic pattern that I could hear. I continued to descend and made another position, altitude and intentions [callout] at approximately 12 miles. There was other radio traffic including two tanker planes. I also heard the jump plane make a position and altitude report. I think he referenced a landmark that I was unfamiliar [with]. I continued to descend. A short time later I saw what looked like the jump plane coming from my left to right at what appeared to be less than 100 feet above me. It happened quick and it was a surprise so it may be been a larger distance. I immediately reacted by reducing throttle and applying forward pressure on the yoke. I descended and watched the other plane fly above me and what looked to be too close. I think there were a couple of contributing factors: 1. I chose a long straight in visual approach rather than entering the traffic pattern. I chose the straight in approach due to the tanker traffic to the south of the field since I would have needed to go south to cross mid field to enter the left downwind due to restricted area and terrain to the north. I also knew there was a jumper in the air and one was going to be dropped soon and I didn't want to overfly the field (which is stated in the AWOS). 2. The jump plane used landmarks during the position reports which I was unfamiliar. I'm not certain the other plane was the jump plane but I think it probably was.

NASA classification — Anomalies

  • Conflict
  • Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural

NASA classification — Assessments

Contributing Factors / Situations
Human Factors
Primary Problem
Human Factors

ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.