Narrative:

I had a near miss with an air force T-38 aircraft. I am a commercial pilot who conducts aerial survey missions 7 days a week for 5 to 9 hours a day. On this morning my crew and I coordinated with sheppard approach control. We sent them a fax that contained a chart of the area we wished to map that day along with our names; phone numbers and tail numbers of the aircraft that we would be operating. We then called the approach control at sheppard air force base and coordinated with them; and then again with the base commander at sheppard. We were told that the area we wished to conduct our mission would not be a factor. Further more we reiterated the point that we could vacate the area if our operations would adversely affect the safety of the operations being conducted at sheppard. I started up the airplane at the local airport 8 miles south of sheppard air force base. I contacted approach and was given a squawk code. I began aerial survey 5 southwest of the sheppard air force base and proceeded north bound to 1 mile north of the airfield and turned south. This was the process for the whole day. I was told by approach to contact a number when I landed for fuel. I called the number; no answer. I then called the number that we had spoken with that morning and was answered by the controller who had wished to speak with me. He assured me that there was no problem and that he only wanted me to contact the base commander during our morning coordination efforts so that there is no confusion. I told him that we had spoken with the base commander and our efforts had been cleared. Lift off at 1230 and back to aerial survey in the same location. At this point the air force base was in full operation with T-38 traffic departing every minute from the base. Two hours after contacting approach on the telephone a T-38 reported that they had to avoid my aircraft because it was interrupting their flow of operation and declared it a near miss. My entire flight I remained VFR and out of the class delta airspace. The flow of traffic that they had referred to was depicted as an alert area for high volumes of military traffic that would be passing through that same area. I had coordinated in the morning and again at noon; I was cleared by the approach control; the tower; and the base commander to be in that airspace even though I could have just squawked VFR and not talked to anyone on any frequency. However; I knew that would jeopardize safety so I choose to make sure they knew what I was doing in the area. We reiterated again and again that if we were causing a hazard or interrupting their operations that we could move out of their way into a less congested area; we were never taken up on this offer. After the incidence I was told to contact the sheppard air force base tower; even though I was not in their airspace nor did I have intent on going into their airspace; because someone wished to speak with me. I contacted the tower and received an explanation of the event that took place and how I was making a safety hazard for their entire operation. I was then given a phone number to contact on the ground. I landed and contacted the number along with the 2 other numbers that had been left at the front desk. I contacted all of them and spoke to each one of the controlling agencies that wished to speak with me. I explained to them the situation and they said that it was not our fault but the fault of bad communication throughout the base in conveying our information. They apologized; I apologized and that ended our conversation. Being the first time I have ever received a number in the air I thought this was a significant event to report. This airspace is incredibly congested and my only request if any would be that it be made into a class C based on the high volume of traffic flowing from the air force base (approximately 300 jet flights a day).

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 pilot operating west of SPS AFB in A-636 with permission; experienced an NMAC with a T-38.

Narrative: I had a near miss with an Air Force T-38 aircraft. I am a commercial pilot who conducts aerial survey missions 7 days a week for 5 to 9 hours a day. On this morning my crew and I coordinated with Sheppard Approach Control. We sent them a fax that contained a chart of the area we wished to map that day along with our names; phone numbers and tail numbers of the aircraft that we would be operating. We then called the Approach Control at Sheppard Air Force base and coordinated with them; and then again with the base commander at Sheppard. We were told that the area we wished to conduct our mission would not be a factor. Further more we reiterated the point that we could vacate the area if our operations would adversely affect the safety of the operations being conducted at Sheppard. I started up the airplane at the local airport 8 miles south of Sheppard Air Force base. I contacted approach and was given a squawk code. I began aerial survey 5 SW of the Sheppard Air Force base and proceeded north bound to 1 mile north of the airfield and turned south. This was the process for the whole day. I was told by approach to contact a number when I landed for fuel. I called the number; no answer. I then called the number that we had spoken with that morning and was answered by the Controller who had wished to speak with me. He assured me that there was no problem and that he only wanted me to contact the base commander during our morning coordination efforts so that there is no confusion. I told him that we had spoken with the base commander and our efforts had been cleared. Lift off at 1230 and back to aerial survey in the same location. At this point the Air Force base was in full operation with T-38 traffic departing every minute from the base. Two hours after contacting Approach on the telephone a T-38 reported that they had to avoid my aircraft because it was interrupting their flow of operation and declared it a near miss. My entire flight I remained VFR and out of the class Delta airspace. The flow of traffic that they had referred to was depicted as an alert area for high volumes of military traffic that would be passing through that same area. I had coordinated in the morning and again at noon; I was cleared by the Approach Control; the Tower; and the base commander to be in that airspace even though I could have just squawked VFR and not talked to anyone on any frequency. However; I knew that would jeopardize safety so I choose to make sure they knew what I was doing in the area. We reiterated again and again that if we were causing a hazard or interrupting their operations that we could move out of their way into a less congested area; we were never taken up on this offer. After the incidence I was told to contact the Sheppard Air Force Base Tower; even though I was not in their airspace nor did I have intent on going into their airspace; because someone wished to speak with me. I contacted the Tower and received an explanation of the event that took place and how I was making a safety hazard for their entire operation. I was then given a phone number to contact on the ground. I landed and contacted the number along with the 2 other numbers that had been left at the front desk. I contacted all of them and spoke to each one of the controlling agencies that wished to speak with me. I explained to them the situation and they said that it was not our fault but the fault of bad communication throughout the base in conveying our information. They apologized; I apologized and that ended our conversation. Being the first time I have ever received a number in the air I thought this was a significant event to report. This airspace is incredibly congested and my only request if any would be that it be made into a Class C based on the high volume of traffic flowing from the Air Force base (approximately 300 Jet flights a day).

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.