Narrative:

Today I was flying using VFR flight following radar services. About halfway to my destination; while talking to fayetteville approach; I had what I would classify as a 'near miss'. I was at 5;500 ft; cruising at 110 KTS true airspeed scanning regularly for traffic; and so far hadn't seen much of anything near me. Then; out of nowhere fayetteville approach radioed 'traffic at 1 o clock intentions unknown confirms you see it!' by the time I looked outside a cessna skyhawk buzzed by nearly head-on past my right wing. We came within maybe 100-200 ft from colliding with each other. More advanced warning from approach would have been helpful since the frequency was not all that busy. I don't know why ATC was not paying more attention but the warning was too late to prevent a possible collision. The angle it came from was slightly below the windshield so there is no way I could have visually seen the traffic until it was too late to change course. What is very troubling is that we were on a correct altitude for our heading following the rule 'odd altitude +500 ft 0-179 degree headings; and even altitude +500 ft 180-359 degree headings'. The other pilot should not have been anywhere near us heading in the opposite direction (northwest) so he was a contributing factor as he was violating VFR altitude heading rules. As far as my end goes no violations of FAA regulations was committed by me. I am filing this report not because I am concerned about punishment from the FAA as I did nothing wrong; but rather because I hope it will help to create more safety initiatives aimed at making VFR pilots who aren't talking to anyone more aware of the dangers associated with flying non-standard altitudes and hopefully choose not to do so.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA28 pilot at 5500 feet reports NMAC with opposite direction C172 while using flight following with Fayetteville Approach. The Controller called the traffic only moments before the near miss.

Narrative: Today I was flying using VFR flight following radar services. About halfway to my destination; while talking to Fayetteville Approach; I had what I would classify as a 'near miss'. I was at 5;500 FT; cruising at 110 KTS true airspeed scanning regularly for traffic; and so far hadn't seen much of anything near me. Then; out of nowhere Fayetteville Approach radioed 'traffic at 1 o clock intentions unknown confirms you see it!' By the time I looked outside a Cessna Skyhawk buzzed by nearly head-on past my right wing. We came within maybe 100-200 FT from colliding with each other. More advanced warning from approach would have been helpful since the frequency was not all that busy. I don't know why ATC was not paying more attention but the warning was too late to prevent a possible collision. The angle it came from was slightly below the windshield so there is no way I could have visually seen the traffic until it was too late to change course. What is very troubling is that we were on a correct altitude for our heading following the rule 'Odd altitude +500 FT 0-179 degree headings; and Even altitude +500 FT 180-359 degree headings'. The other pilot should not have been anywhere near us heading in the opposite direction (northwest) so he was a contributing factor as he was violating VFR altitude heading rules. As far as my end goes no violations of FAA regulations was committed by me. I am filing this report not because I am concerned about punishment from the FAA as I did nothing wrong; but rather because I hope it will help to create more safety initiatives aimed at making VFR pilots who aren't talking to anyone more aware of the dangers associated with flying non-standard altitudes and hopefully choose not to do so.

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.