General aviation pilot transitioning phl class B airspace and receiving VFR ATC service initiated an...

Narrative:

I was returning to ckz from a trip. I called philadelphia approach when over the cedar lake VOR (vcn) at 3;500 ft and requested a transition clearance through the class bravo airspace direct to ckz. Philly approach sounded very busy; but I received a transponder code and was cleared into the bravo; direct to ckz with a clearance to climb to 4;500 ft. I made the climb; leveled at 4;500 ft; and was given a vector of 300 degrees to avoid a parachute jumping area. I made the turn and was given a vector of 360 a few minutes later after clearing the jump area. Traffic was called out to me and I acknowledged all transmissions. During this time I complied with accurate headings and held altitude carefully. As I approached the river and the downtown area of philadelphia we were both startled to see a larger aircraft; possibly transport-category; headed straight towards us from the directly opposing direction. I don't remember if ATC had called out the traffic to us or not; but the approaching aircraft looked to be at our altitude and was closing very fast. The image in front of us was so disturbing that my passenger screamed and almost jumped out of her seat. I took immediate evasive action to avoid what I judged to be an imminent collision. I made a hard left turn; simultaneously transmitting to ATC what I was doing while in the turn. I believe my transmission was something like 'philly approach; aircraft X is making an immediate left turn for traffic avoidance.' the turn lasted for less than ten seconds; and as I turned back to course ATC was on the radio yelling at me for the deviation. I told them we had narrowly missed a collision. 'That was very; very close...' I think was my reply and that as pilot in command I had done what I needed to do to prevent a collision. During the heat of the emergency turn I believe I lost perhaps 150 ft of altitude; and it is this part that was probably the source of ATC's consternation. I was given an on-course clearance and handed off to another controller; who advised me that ATC wanted me to give them a call after landing. The rest of the trip was normal and without incident. I called ATC as requested and gave them my information. I am an experienced instrument pilot with many hours of incident-free contact and compliance with ATC. I have replayed this incident over and over in my mind; and I remain convinced that what I did was correct; prudent; perhaps life-saving; and certainly within the pilot in command's right and duty to deviate when an unsafe situation requires it. First; I believe that ATC erred in allowing two airplanes to enter (at least perceptibly) an unsafe situation. Second; I believe I will be disciplined for taking emergency action as required by the far. Thirdly; this incident will have the effect of discouraging the use of ATC services for fear of the consequences. Had I gone around; under; or over the class bravo without ATC contact; this incident would not have happened. I have often heard ATC call out unknown VFR traffic with the suffix 'but we're not talking to him.' the implication is that they wish they were; it's safer for everyone when everyone's in the system. But I have to admit that; even with my many hours of experience; I'll be a bit gun-shy about using ATC again if I don't have to after this incident.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: General aviation pilot transitioning PHL Class B airspace and receiving VFR ATC service initiated an immediate turn to avoid a large opposite direction aircraft; a pilot deviation was recorded by ATC.

Narrative: I was returning to CKZ from a trip. I called Philadelphia Approach when over the Cedar Lake VOR (VCN) at 3;500 FT and requested a transition clearance through the Class Bravo airspace direct to CKZ. Philly Approach sounded very busy; but I received a transponder code and was cleared into the Bravo; direct to CKZ with a clearance to climb to 4;500 FT. I made the climb; leveled at 4;500 FT; and was given a vector of 300 degrees to avoid a parachute jumping area. I made the turn and was given a vector of 360 a few minutes later after clearing the jump area. Traffic was called out to me and I acknowledged all transmissions. During this time I complied with accurate headings and held altitude carefully. As I approached the river and the downtown area of Philadelphia we were both startled to see a larger aircraft; possibly transport-category; headed straight towards us from the directly opposing direction. I don't remember if ATC had called out the traffic to us or not; but the approaching aircraft looked to be at our altitude and was closing very fast. The image in front of us was so disturbing that my passenger screamed and almost jumped out of her seat. I took immediate evasive action to avoid what I judged to be an imminent collision. I made a hard left turn; simultaneously transmitting to ATC what I was doing while in the turn. I believe my transmission was something like 'Philly Approach; Aircraft X is making an immediate left turn for traffic avoidance.' The turn lasted for less than ten seconds; and as I turned back to course ATC was on the radio yelling at me for the deviation. I told them we had narrowly missed a collision. 'That was very; very close...' I think was my reply and that as pilot in command I had done what I needed to do to prevent a collision. During the heat of the emergency turn I believe I lost perhaps 150 FT of altitude; and it is this part that was probably the source of ATC's consternation. I was given an on-course clearance and handed off to another Controller; who advised me that ATC wanted me to give them a call after landing. The rest of the trip was normal and without incident. I called ATC as requested and gave them my information. I am an experienced instrument pilot with many hours of incident-free contact and compliance with ATC. I have replayed this incident over and over in my mind; and I remain convinced that what I did was correct; prudent; perhaps life-saving; and certainly within the pilot in command's right and duty to deviate when an unsafe situation requires it. First; I believe that ATC erred in allowing two airplanes to enter (at least perceptibly) an unsafe situation. Second; I believe I will be disciplined for taking emergency action as required by the FAR. Thirdly; this incident will have the effect of discouraging the use of ATC services for fear of the consequences. Had I gone around; under; or over the Class Bravo without ATC contact; this incident would not have happened. I have often heard ATC call out unknown VFR traffic with the suffix 'but we're not talking to him.' The implication is that they wish they were; it's safer for everyone when everyone's in the system. But I have to admit that; even with my many hours of experience; I'll be a bit gun-shy about using ATC again if I don't have to after this incident.

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	900043
Time
Date	201007
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	PHL.Airport
State Reference	PA
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	Cruise
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 19.9 Flight Crew Total 1547 Flight Crew Type 1312
Events
Anomaly	Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance
Miss Distance	Horizontal 1000 Vertical 300

General aviation pilot transitioning phl class B airspace and receiving VFR ATC service initiated an immediate turn to avoid a large opposite direction aircraft; a pilot deviation was recorded by ATC.