Two general aviation aircraft approaching willard airport have a near midair collision. Willard is u...

Narrative:

As we both approached the runway I was at 1800 ft while he was at 2000 ft entering the pattern from the northwest. We were both looking for each other as we entered the pattern however neither of us saw the other until we both were in the pattern. I had yet to turn downwind and saw him moments before flying under him. I then elected to do a 360 and follow him in the pattern to a normal landing on runway 28. Although I've been to this airport a few times in the past for fuel; it was in winter and easier to see against the all white background of snow. It was much more difficult to pick out the runway at pattern altitude on this day and even without the conflicting traffic I might have overshot the runway and come back around the pattern. My inability to pick out the airport and the changing season gave the area a different look that made it difficult to exactly ascertain my position. Coming from the south the landing environment is mostly obscured by a tree line at pattern altitude. In the future when I hear of other traffic entering the pattern I plan to give the airport a wide berth until I'm sure of where the other traffic is located.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Two general aviation aircraft approaching Willard Airport have a NMAC. Willard is uncontrolled and both aircraft were on UNICOM but didn't see each other until very close.

Narrative: As we both approached the runway I was at 1800 FT while he was at 2000 FT entering the pattern from the northwest. We were both looking for each other as we entered the pattern however neither of us saw the other until we both were in the pattern. I had yet to turn downwind and saw him moments before flying under him. I then elected to do a 360 and follow him in the pattern to a normal landing on Runway 28. Although I've been to this airport a few times in the past for fuel; it was in winter and easier to see against the all white background of snow. It was much more difficult to pick out the runway at pattern altitude on this day and even without the conflicting traffic I might have overshot the runway and come back around the pattern. My inability to pick out the airport and the changing season gave the area a different look that made it difficult to exactly ascertain my position. Coming from the south the landing environment is mostly obscured by a tree line at pattern altitude. In the future when I hear of other traffic entering the pattern I plan to give the airport a wide berth until I'm sure of where the other traffic is located.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	833839
Time
Date	200905
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	VFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 8 Flight Crew Total 375 Flight Crew Type 300
Events
Anomaly	Conflict NMAC
Miss Distance	Vertical 200

Two general aviation aircraft approaching willard airport have a near midair collision. Willard is uncontrolled and both aircraft were on unicom but didn't see each other until very close.