A light aircraft pilot reported an near midair collision with another light plane in cruise flight a...

Narrative:

I was flying [my light single] VFR at 6;500 ft westbound from dwh to sjt. I was receiving VFR flight following from austin approach and was at approximately the cwk 073 radial at 29 DME fix at the time of the near midair collision. I saw a single engine high wing airplane pass directly over the top of me; from south to north; at a [distance] of approximately 100 ft vertically in what appeared to be a steep descent. I fly regularly in very busy class B environments and have never seen another aircraft that close to me. I immediately descended a couple of hundred feet and then was issued a traffic advisory. The controller did not however issue this advisory until after the near midair collision occurred and the other aircraft was off my three o'clock position and had already descended below my altitude. I believe that a position relief briefing was being conducted at the time of the near midair collision. I realize that when flying VFR; I am responsible for seeing and avoiding other aircraft. I also know that VFR advisories are to be given 'as workload permits' and judging by the lack of other aircraft on frequency; there was plenty of time for the controller to issue a traffic advisory. It would be my belief that the controller was distracted while giving the position relief briefing and neglected to issue this advisory.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A light aircraft pilot reported an NMAC with another light plane in cruise flight at 6;500 FT in the vicinity of SJT. He was receiving flight following and was disappointed he was not alerted to the traffic by ATC.

Narrative: I was flying [my light single] VFR at 6;500 FT westbound from DWH to SJT. I was receiving VFR Flight Following from Austin Approach and was at approximately the CWK 073 radial at 29 DME fix at the time of the NMAC. I saw a single engine high wing airplane pass directly over the top of me; from south to north; at a [distance] of approximately 100 FT vertically in what appeared to be a steep descent. I fly regularly in very busy Class B environments and have never seen another aircraft that close to me. I immediately descended a couple of hundred feet and then was issued a traffic advisory. The Controller did not however issue this advisory until after the NMAC occurred and the other aircraft was off my three o'clock position and had already descended below my altitude. I believe that a position relief briefing was being conducted at the time of the NMAC. I realize that when flying VFR; I am responsible for seeing and avoiding other aircraft. I also know that VFR advisories are to be given 'as workload permits' and judging by the lack of other aircraft on frequency; there was plenty of time for the Controller to issue a traffic advisory. It would be my belief that the Controller was distracted while giving the position relief briefing and neglected to issue this advisory.

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	941992
Time
Date	201104
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	AUS.Airport
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Bonanza 33
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	VFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft High Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Flight Phase	Cruise
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Air Traffic Control Radar 2.5 Flight Crew Last 90 Days 35 Flight Crew Total 1032 Flight Crew Type 580
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict NMAC
Miss Distance	Horizontal 0 Vertical 100

A light aircraft pilot reported an near midair collision with another light plane in cruise flight at 6;500 ft in the vicinity of sjt. He was receiving flight following and was disappointed he was not alerted to the traffic by ATC.