Narrative:

Training with instructor in C172. Training aircraft had inoperative landing light; but day VMC. On departure; as pilot flying; I looked to the left; and exclaimed to my instructor: 'look at this maniac!' as a cirrus to our port was breaking right (starboard) and climbing slightly; approximately 200 feet away; and opposite direction (we were climbing out of runway 32; cirrus was landing runway 14. Instructor fiddled with radio knob; (but did not change frequency) and transmitted: 'low wing at ZZZ; were you making any calls?' as we had not heard any radio calls. 'I made at least 6; inbound; on the RNAV14' was the reply. We explained the we had not heard any calls; nor had he heard any of our pattern-work calls; and that one of us must have had a bad radio. In retrospect; I think it was our radio; and that the instructor 'jiggling' the radio switch brought it back to life. We had done a landing at ZZZ 1 and self-announced; prior to this incident; but again; nobody was in the pattern; so if we were not transmitting; we had no way to know. Returning to ZZZ; we picked up the latest ATIS; however; this was on radio 2; we were xmit/receive on radio 1. This was only my second time flying at ZZZ; but thinking back again; I had heard 'bleed' on the same frequency from [another nearby airport] previously; but did not hear any this day. With utterly no other traffic; we had no way to know our radio was not transmitting. I saw the cirrus head-on; and did not observe that his landing light was illuminated; had it been; I think I would have spotted the cirrus much sooner. It was silver; and blended in with the green leafy background. The poorly-maintained trainer I was in (the landing light had been inop on a previous flight the week before; and was still not repaired. The artificial horizon also had been inop on previous flight; and was also not fixed) was also a factor. Had our landing light been illuminated; the cirrus may have seen us sooner. With no (apparently) radio; and no landing light illuminated on either aircraft; the last hole in the swiss cheese was see-and-avoid; which; luckily for us; held.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 pilot reported a NMAC on takeoff caused by an apparent inoperative radio.

Narrative: Training with instructor in C172. Training aircraft had inoperative landing light; but DAY VMC. On departure; as Pilot Flying; I looked to the left; and exclaimed to my instructor: 'Look at this maniac!' as a Cirrus to our port was breaking right (starboard) and climbing slightly; approximately 200 feet away; and opposite direction (we were climbing out of Runway 32; Cirrus was landing Runway 14. Instructor fiddled with radio knob; (but did not change frequency) and transmitted: 'Low Wing at ZZZ; were you making any calls?' as we had not heard any radio calls. 'I made at least 6; inbound; on the RNAV14' was the reply. We explained the we had not heard any calls; nor had he heard any of our pattern-work calls; and that one of us must have had a bad radio. In retrospect; I think it was our radio; and that the instructor 'jiggling' the radio switch brought it back to life. We had done a landing at ZZZ 1 and self-announced; prior to this incident; but again; nobody was in the pattern; so if we were not transmitting; we had no way to know. Returning to ZZZ; we picked up the latest ATIS; however; this was on radio 2; we were xmit/receive on radio 1. This was only my second time flying at ZZZ; but thinking back again; I had heard 'bleed' on the same frequency from [another nearby airport] previously; but did not hear any this day. With utterly no other traffic; we had no way to know our radio was not transmitting. I saw the Cirrus head-on; and did not observe that his landing light was illuminated; had it been; I think I would have spotted the Cirrus much sooner. It was silver; and blended in with the green leafy background. The poorly-maintained trainer I was in (the landing light had been inop on a previous flight the week before; and was still not repaired. The artificial horizon also had been inop on previous flight; and was also not fixed) was also a factor. Had our landing light been illuminated; the Cirrus may have seen us sooner. With no (apparently) radio; and no landing light illuminated on either aircraft; the last hole in the swiss cheese was see-and-avoid; which; luckily for us; held.

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.