Narrative:

After doing some airwork; I decided to land at [a nearby airport]. I listened to ATIS; which specified runway 26 in use; and made an initial call up to [the airport] tower about 13 NM east of the airport. Tower cleared me to make a straight-in and to report at 4 NM; at or above 1;500 ft (their standard arrival instruction). On a straight-in for runway 26; at about 6-8 NM from the airport; I heard a cherokee report; also east of the airport; for a straight-in. The tower instructed me to follow the cherokee. I made visual contact with the cherokee about 1;000 ft below me on a southerly heading south of the final approach course; at a virtual right angle to both me and the runway. The tower instructed the cherokee to turn inbound at which point I was surprised to observe the aircraft make a left turn; away from the airport. This placed him traveling opposite direction to the airport and to my flight path; which meant he almost immediately went out of sight behind and below me. I notified the tower that the cherokee had turned and was now behind me. The tower acknowledged and transmitted 'landing clearance cancelled'; I thought to the cherokee. I continued inbound on a straight-in; assuming the cherokee was now maneuvering to my six o clock and presumably following me. As I neared the 4 NM reporting point; I heard the tower call an aircraft further out on the approach; telling him he was 'number 3 behind a cherokee and a mooney.' I saw the mooney ahead of me; crossing the threshold; which I assumed made me number two. Assuming the tower had misidentified me as a cherokee; I called in as 'cessna X; 3.8 miles out'. The tower asked me to identify; which I did. On about a two-mile final; I heard a transmission from another aircraft; 'there's a cessna next to me.' looking around; I saw a cherokee about 800 ft away to my right; on a converging final. I immediately turned and climbed to the left and transmitted that I was breaking off the approach. The tower instructed me to overfly the runway and turn to the left downwind at the departure end. I did; after first ensuring that the landing cherokee was below me. I overflew the runway at pattern altitude; turned left to the downwind when instructed by the tower and made a normal landing. Human factors/lessons learned: when the cherokee unexpectedly turned away from the airport and passed behind me; I reported it to the tower; and their acknowledgement (which I thought canceled the landing instructions given to the cherokee) allowed me to assume the tower controller would manage separation and sequencing; I allowed myself to become complacent that the traffic was being sequenced behind me; out of sight. When the tower misidentified me as a cherokee to following traffic; I assumed it was a simple mix-up of aircraft type; a not-uncommon occurrence. I called in to correct my type; and when the tower had me identify; I again assumed that the controller was seeing the big picture and taking care of my sequencing and separation. I now think that the controller was actually talking to the cherokee who had apparently maneuvered behind me and was converging on me from behind; how he didn't see me till the last minute I'll never know; but he may well be thinking the same thing about me. The knowledge that there was a cherokee behind me; coupled with the controller (I thought) mistakenly calling me a cherokee; should have tipped me off that there was a potential for dangerous confusion here. I should have been more proactive about clearing up the confusion with the controller; rather than assuming that an ident would resolve everything. This is the closest I have come to another aircraft; and it occurs to me that it was the classic scenario for a mid-air: VFR conditions; in the pattern at a tower-controlled airport. It was a powerful reminder that the responsibility for making see-and-avoid work rests with nobody but the PIC; not the guy at the scope and not the guy in the other airplane.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: VFR C172 inbound to a Towered airport; described a conflict event when communications between pattern traffic and ATC was confused and not clear.

Narrative: After doing some airwork; I decided to land at [a nearby airport]. I listened to ATIS; which specified Runway 26 in use; and made an initial call up to [the airport] Tower about 13 NM east of the airport. Tower cleared me to make a straight-in and to report at 4 NM; at or above 1;500 FT (their standard arrival instruction). On a straight-in for Runway 26; at about 6-8 NM from the airport; I heard a Cherokee report; also east of the airport; for a straight-in. The Tower instructed me to follow the Cherokee. I made visual contact with the Cherokee about 1;000 FT below me on a southerly heading south of the final approach course; at a virtual right angle to both me and the runway. The Tower instructed the Cherokee to turn inbound at which point I was surprised to observe the aircraft make a LEFT turn; away from the airport. This placed him traveling opposite direction to the airport and to my flight path; which meant he almost immediately went out of sight behind and below me. I notified the Tower that the Cherokee had turned and was now behind me. The Tower acknowledged and transmitted 'landing clearance cancelled'; I thought to the Cherokee. I continued inbound on a straight-in; assuming the Cherokee was now maneuvering to my six o clock and presumably following me. As I neared the 4 NM reporting point; I heard the tower call an aircraft further out on the approach; telling him he was 'number 3 behind a Cherokee and a Mooney.' I saw the Mooney ahead of me; crossing the threshold; which I assumed made me number two. Assuming the Tower had misidentified me as a Cherokee; I called in as 'Cessna X; 3.8 miles out'. The Tower asked me to IDENT; which I did. On about a two-mile final; I heard a transmission from another aircraft; 'There's a Cessna next to me.' Looking around; I saw a Cherokee about 800 FT away to my right; on a converging final. I immediately turned and climbed to the left and transmitted that I was breaking off the approach. The Tower instructed me to overfly the runway and turn to the left downwind at the departure end. I did; after first ensuring that the landing Cherokee was below me. I overflew the runway at pattern altitude; turned left to the downwind when instructed by the Tower and made a normal landing. HUMAN FACTORS/LESSONS LEARNED: When the Cherokee unexpectedly turned away from the airport and passed behind me; I reported it to the Tower; and their acknowledgement (which I thought canceled the landing instructions given to the Cherokee) allowed me to assume the Tower Controller would manage separation and sequencing; I allowed myself to become complacent that the traffic was being sequenced behind me; out of sight. When the Tower misidentified me as a Cherokee to following traffic; I assumed it was a simple mix-up of aircraft type; a not-uncommon occurrence. I called in to correct my type; and when the Tower had me IDENT; I again assumed that the Controller was seeing the big picture and taking care of my sequencing and separation. I now think that the controller was actually talking to the Cherokee who had apparently maneuvered behind me and was converging on me from behind; how he didn't see me till the last minute I'll never know; but he may well be thinking the same thing about me. The knowledge that there was a Cherokee behind me; coupled with the Controller (I thought) mistakenly calling me a Cherokee; should have tipped me off that there was a potential for dangerous confusion here. I should have been more proactive about clearing up the confusion with the Controller; rather than assuming that an Ident would resolve everything. This is the closest I have come to another aircraft; and it occurs to me that it was the classic scenario for a mid-air: VFR conditions; in the pattern at a Tower-controlled airport. It was a powerful reminder that the responsibility for making see-and-avoid work rests with nobody but the PIC; not the guy at the scope and not the guy in the other airplane.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.