Narrative:

My student and I were entering a local airport to do pattern work. We got ATIS and contacted tower from west of the airport. Tower told us to enter on a right downwind for what I thought I heard runway 2 but I came to find out was runway 20. We were told to follow traffic but I wasn't sure what the traffic was doing and we started to turn to the right to maneuver for the right downwind of runway 2. ATC queried us when we were over the approach end of runway 2. There was no traffic in the vicinity and no safety hazard. He asked us what we were doing and I told him I thought he wanted us to maneuver for the right downwind of runway 2. Quickly I realized I was wrong and we complied with tower's instructions and safely landed on runway 20. I explained to the tower that I misheard the runway assignment. We completed 3-4 touch and goes. We were turning crosswind when tower said to extend upwind then he said ignore last request. We continued on downwind and then tower told us to make a right 360 and both me and my student misunderstood again and heard left. The pattern was full and busy resulting in a lot of chatter. I realized he said right after my student already initiated the left turn and it was too late to roll out of it. Tower then commented; 'what's with the left and rights seriously?' tower was also making other unprofessional comments. After that incident I decided to leave the pattern. When we told tower we'd like to depart; tower said; 'that's the best and safest decision you've made all day; frequency change approved'. On the way back to our home base we were cleared for the arrival. As we were getting close to the pattern I saw C172 traffic turning downwind off to our left and arrow traffic to our right. We were told to follow. Tower cleared us to descend so my student started descending. Tower instructed us to follow arrow traffic ahead; cleared us to descend to again and to widen to the right to follow the arrow. I saw arrow traffic ahead but it wasn't the arrow traffic tower was talking about. After we initiated the right turn my student said there's traffic right below us to the left. We were about 1;100' and descending and barely missed the traffic. We continued to widen to the right and followed the traffic. The rest of the flight was uneventful. The cause of this problem was my lack of verifying and making sure I was doing the right thing. I always ask when I think something doesn't feel right. Today I was just behind and not thinking completely ahead like I normally do. Tower was also not helping the situation by making unprofessional comments which frustrated me. I decided to take myself out of the chain of events at the outlying airport and left the pattern to go back to my home base to end the flight. On the way back to home base the cause of the issue was the marginal visibility. Tower did not say there were two arrows and we were to follow the 2nd one and the adsb did not show another airplane. By complying with towers instructions immediately we nearly missed the arrow. We were descending and the tower never said anything about us being close to the arrow. The visibility and misunderstanding almost caused a fatal accident. To correct the situation I must always verify when I am not sure of a runway assignment or any other instruction or when I feel like it's not the right thing that I am doing. To help the situation in the future I should take my time and figure out what I'm going to do before I do it.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C172 Instructor and Student Pilot experienced difficulty accurately following ATC's instructions while training at two different airports. One lapse resulted in a near miss and ATC's unprofessional comments about the crews performance was upsetting.

Narrative: My student and I were entering a local airport to do pattern work. We got ATIS and contacted Tower from west of the airport. Tower told us to enter on a right downwind for what I thought I heard Runway 2 but I came to find out was Runway 20. We were told to follow traffic but I wasn't sure what the traffic was doing and we started to turn to the right to maneuver for the right downwind of Runway 2. ATC queried us when we were over the approach end of Runway 2. There was no traffic in the vicinity and no safety hazard. He asked us what we were doing and I told him I thought he wanted us to maneuver for the right downwind of Runway 2. Quickly I realized I was wrong and we complied with Tower's instructions and safely landed on Runway 20. I explained to the Tower that I misheard the runway assignment. We completed 3-4 touch and goes. We were turning crosswind when Tower said to extend upwind then he said ignore last request. We continued on downwind and then Tower told us to make a right 360 and both me and my student misunderstood again and heard left. The pattern was full and busy resulting in a lot of chatter. I realized he said right after my student already initiated the left turn and it was too late to roll out of it. Tower then commented; 'What's with the left and rights seriously?' Tower was also making other unprofessional comments. After that incident I decided to leave the pattern. When we told Tower we'd like to depart; Tower said; 'That's the best and safest decision you've made all day; frequency change approved'. On the way back to our home base we were cleared for the arrival. As we were getting close to the pattern I saw C172 traffic turning downwind off to our left and Arrow traffic to our right. We were told to follow. Tower cleared us to descend so my student started descending. Tower instructed us to follow Arrow traffic ahead; cleared us to descend to again and to widen to the right to follow the Arrow. I saw Arrow traffic ahead but it wasn't the Arrow traffic Tower was talking about. After we initiated the right turn my student said there's traffic right below us to the left. We were about 1;100' and descending and barely missed the traffic. We continued to widen to the right and followed the traffic. The rest of the flight was uneventful. The cause of this problem was my lack of verifying and making sure I was doing the right thing. I always ask when I think something doesn't feel right. Today I was just behind and not thinking completely ahead like I normally do. Tower was also not helping the situation by making unprofessional comments which frustrated me. I decided to take myself out of the chain of events at the outlying airport and left the pattern to go back to my home base to end the flight. On the way back to home base the cause of the issue was the marginal visibility. Tower did not say there were two Arrows and we were to follow the 2nd one and the ADSB did not show another airplane. By complying with Towers instructions immediately we nearly missed the Arrow. We were descending and the Tower never said anything about us being close to the Arrow. The visibility and misunderstanding almost caused a fatal accident. To correct the situation I must always verify when I am not sure of a runway assignment or any other instruction or when I feel like it's not the right thing that I am doing. To help the situation in the future I should take my time and figure out what I'm going to do before I do it.

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.