Narrative:

3 landing surfaces were in use: runway 19L, float pond 19, and runway 19R. Landing was into the late afternoon sun. Approaching from the northwest, approach control assigned me a heading of 115 degrees for a base leg to intercept about a 5 mi final to runway 19L, the runway I had requested. There were at least 2 aircraft in the pattern for runway 19L and 3 float planes inbound for the float pond -- 2 from the west and 1 from the east. About 3 mi northwest of the airport, approach told me to resume own navigation to the airport and contact tower. I headed toward runway 19L and contacted the tower. Tower said to continue and report abeam the university. I was unable to see the float plane traffic inbound looking into the sun. At the university, tower called and said to change to runway 19R and cleared to land runway 19R. I turned final to runway 19R, looking for the float plane, then tower said traffic no longer was a factor. A few seconds later, the float plane appeared crossing directly in front of me. I dove to the right to avoid it. Tower was evidently unaware of our relative position. With calm winds, using runway 1 instead of runway 19 would avoid everyone looking into the setting sun. Changing my landing runway to runway 19R created the interesting flight paths.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: NMAC BTWN A C208 COMMUTER AND A FLOAT PLANE, BOTH N OF THE RWY COMPLEX FOR RWY 19R AND FLOAT POND AT FAI, AK.

Narrative: 3 LNDG SURFACES WERE IN USE: RWY 19L, FLOAT POND 19, AND RWY 19R. LNDG WAS INTO THE LATE AFTERNOON SUN. APCHING FROM THE NW, APCH CTL ASSIGNED ME A HDG OF 115 DEGS FOR A BASE LEG TO INTERCEPT ABOUT A 5 MI FINAL TO RWY 19L, THE RWY I HAD REQUESTED. THERE WERE AT LEAST 2 ACFT IN THE PATTERN FOR RWY 19L AND 3 FLOAT PLANES INBOUND FOR THE FLOAT POND -- 2 FROM THE W AND 1 FROM THE E. ABOUT 3 MI NW OF THE ARPT, APCH TOLD ME TO RESUME OWN NAV TO THE ARPT AND CONTACT TWR. I HEADED TOWARD RWY 19L AND CONTACTED THE TWR. TWR SAID TO CONTINUE AND RPT ABEAM THE UNIVERSITY. I WAS UNABLE TO SEE THE FLOAT PLANE TFC INBOUND LOOKING INTO THE SUN. AT THE UNIVERSITY, TWR CALLED AND SAID TO CHANGE TO RWY 19R AND CLRED TO LAND RWY 19R. I TURNED FINAL TO RWY 19R, LOOKING FOR THE FLOAT PLANE, THEN TWR SAID TFC NO LONGER WAS A FACTOR. A FEW SECONDS LATER, THE FLOAT PLANE APPEARED XING DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME. I DOVE TO THE R TO AVOID IT. TWR WAS EVIDENTLY UNAWARE OF OUR RELATIVE POS. WITH CALM WINDS, USING RWY 1 INSTEAD OF RWY 19 WOULD AVOID EVERYONE LOOKING INTO THE SETTING SUN. CHANGING MY LNDG RWY TO RWY 19R CREATED THE INTERESTING FLT PATHS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.