Narrative:

My student and I were performing a training flight and were looking to practice takeoffs and landings in the pattern. We were practicing short-field takeoffs in a PA-44; and the tower stated that we were cleared for takeoff and to follow a cessna on upwind. As my student took off into the traffic pattern and made the crosswind to downwind turn; I heard another pilot on the radio stating that another aircraft had just come in close contact with his own; at which point I realized I had lost track of the cessna we were told to follow. The tower then reiterated that we were following a cessna and wanted us to verify that we had the traffic in sight. I saw that our tis showed us in very close proximity to another aircraft; and from the ensuing radio transmissions; it seemed that the cessna was now slightly behind and above us; which is where I looked to track down the traffic. With traffic behind us still not yet in sight; we were cleared for landing by tower. The other pilot in the cessna told the tower that we had flown to within 50 feet of his position.this near miss could have been avoided if I had kept my eyes looking outside for traffic and had I maintained proper situational awareness. My focus was instead more directed inside for training my student on a certain maneuver. Usually; when we perform a normal takeoff in a cessna and follow another cessna in the upwind; separation is not much of a factor. But being in a higher performance aircraft this time and performing a high performance takeoff; I should have known to be more vigilant of aircraft separation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA44 flight instructor reported a near-mid-air-collision on after takeoff due to a lack of attention to preceding traffic separation.

Narrative: My student and I were performing a training flight and were looking to practice takeoffs and landings in the pattern. We were practicing short-field takeoffs in a PA-44; and the Tower stated that we were cleared for takeoff and to follow a Cessna on upwind. As my student took off into the traffic pattern and made the crosswind to downwind turn; I heard another pilot on the radio stating that another aircraft had just come in close contact with his own; at which point I realized I had lost track of the Cessna we were told to follow. The Tower then reiterated that we were following a Cessna and wanted us to verify that we had the traffic in sight. I saw that our TIS showed us in very close proximity to another aircraft; and from the ensuing radio transmissions; it seemed that the Cessna was now slightly behind and above us; which is where I looked to track down the traffic. With traffic behind us still not yet in sight; we were cleared for landing by Tower. The other pilot in the Cessna told the Tower that we had flown to within 50 feet of his position.This near miss could have been avoided if I had kept my eyes looking outside for traffic and had I maintained proper situational awareness. My focus was instead more directed inside for training my student on a certain maneuver. Usually; when we perform a normal takeoff in a Cessna and follow another Cessna in the upwind; separation is not much of a factor. But being in a higher performance aircraft this time and performing a high performance takeoff; I should have known to be more vigilant of aircraft separation.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.