Narrative:

When [I was] about six miles out from pdk from the northeast; I called the tower for clearance into class D airspace. I was told to enter straight in for runway 20L. Two to three miles from the runway; I was told to change to runway 20R (number two) and to look for traffic one half mile in front of me and 200 ft low. Unable to see the aircraft; I told the tower that I was unable to see the traffic and I requested that I do s-turns or a 360 for spacing. Tower authorized a right s-turn and that's exactly what I did. Once getting back on the approach the spacing was still not within a safe limit. I should have initiated a go-around at this point; so I requested a 360. Given that I thought no traffic was on the left side (runway 20L) I initiated a left 360 because there was traffic on right base for 20R; so to avoid that traffic I initiated a tight left 360. Once 180 degrees into the turn I saw a light jet approaching head on and I took evasive action; nose down and increase bank to the left. The jet initiated a go-around. The separation in my opinion at the time fell to 1/6-1/8 mile and less than 100 ft vertical. The jet traffic on the parallel runway (20L) was talking to atlanta approach and not the tower at the time; thus he was not on the frequency and I could not hear where he was relative to the airport. Once out of the way; I was cleared to land number one for runway 20R and landed safely. The jet initiated a go around and announced now to the tower that separation was not within safe limits and he had to take action as well as myself to avoid a collision. The tower said everything was fine and that he (the jet) should just make left traffic and re-enter the approach for 20L. Contributing factors were: poor viability due to severe amount of direct sunlight from setting sun; unable to see other traffic. Controllers sequencing aircraft so close that safety was compromised if traffic following is not immediately spotted. Poor judgment calls on the controller's part by switching runways when aircraft are so close to the runway. [It was the] pilot's error for not going around at the first sign of a very tight spacing conflict [and] pilot error for making a left turn into the parallel traffic. Corrective actions: evasive maneuvers; go around by jet traffic. Other thoughts: training at many flight schools is such that students are not taught to turn on all lights prior to landing (to save money because of the bulbs). I had all the lights on and that is perhaps why the jet traffic saw me and could take prompt action. Schools need to teach to have all lights on regardless of time of day so that an aircraft can be more easily identified in the vicinity of the airport.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A VFR C172 on a straight in approach was issued a runway change and traffic. Unable to see traffic a left 360 degree turn was made when approved for a right turn resulting in a conflict with an approaching jet aircraft.

Narrative: When [I was] about six miles out from PDK from the northeast; I called the Tower for clearance into Class D airspace. I was told to enter straight in for Runway 20L. Two to three miles from the runway; I was told to change to Runway 20R (number two) and to look for traffic one half mile in front of me and 200 FT low. Unable to see the aircraft; I told the Tower that I was unable to see the traffic and I requested that I do S-turns or a 360 for spacing. Tower authorized a right S-turn and that's exactly what I did. Once getting back on the approach the spacing was still not within a safe limit. I should have initiated a go-around at this point; so I requested a 360. Given that I thought no traffic was on the left side (Runway 20L) I initiated a left 360 because there was traffic on right base for 20R; so to avoid that traffic I initiated a tight left 360. Once 180 degrees into the turn I saw a light jet approaching head on and I took evasive action; nose down and increase bank to the left. The jet initiated a go-around. The separation in my opinion at the time fell to 1/6-1/8 mile and less than 100 FT vertical. The jet traffic on the parallel Runway (20L) was talking to Atlanta Approach and not the Tower at the time; thus he was not on the frequency and I could not hear where he was relative to the airport. Once out of the way; I was cleared to land number one for Runway 20R and landed safely. The jet initiated a go around and announced now to the Tower that separation was not within safe limits and he had to take action as well as myself to avoid a collision. The Tower said everything was fine and that he (the jet) should just make left traffic and re-enter the approach for 20L. Contributing factors were: poor viability due to severe amount of direct sunlight from setting sun; unable to see other traffic. Controllers sequencing aircraft so close that safety was compromised if traffic following is not immediately spotted. Poor judgment calls on the Controller's part by switching runways when aircraft are so close to the runway. [It was the] pilot's error for not going around at the first sign of a very tight spacing conflict [and] pilot error for making a left turn into the parallel traffic. Corrective actions: Evasive Maneuvers; go around by jet traffic. Other thoughts: Training at many flight schools is such that students are not taught to turn on all lights prior to landing (to save money because of the bulbs). I had all the lights on and that is perhaps why the jet traffic saw me and could take prompt action. Schools need to teach to have all lights on regardless of time of day so that an aircraft can be more easily identified in the vicinity of the airport.

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.