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The pilots of a C-182 and a gobosh light sport aircraft suffered a technical near midair collision upon entering the pattern at an untowered airport despite discussing their intentions on CTAF. A bright snowy background making spotting traffic difficult conspired to deny them visual contact with one another until they were within three hundred feet vertically and horizontally while on downwind.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 977196 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201110 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | EIK.Airport |
| State Reference | CO |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Light Sport Aircraft |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120 Flight Crew Total 870 Flight Crew Type 150 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict NMAC |
| Miss Distance | Horizontal 300 Vertical 300 |
Narrative:
I was preparing to overfly the field and enter a right traffic pattern to land on runway 15. I reported my intentions on CTAF after canceling VFR flight following radar services and received a report in return from a gobosh southwest of the field that was also inbound for landing. We had determined after some reports back and forth that I; being in the faster 182 and having equivalent altitude to the gobosh would be able to enter the right downwind for runway 15 without him being a factor. The gobosh advised they would enter the right downwind for runway 15 on a 45 degree entry angle midfield.due to the snow on the ground and mountains; I was unable to see the gobosh against the white background and he was no longer making understandable position reports. Because we had already determined that I would enter the pattern before that aircraft; I overflew the field and entered a normal downwind. There were no other aircraft in the vicinity of the airport. The gobosh pilot then notified me that they had me in sight at 12 o' clock. I looked back and saw the gobosh much closer than I had expected to; behind me; on the downwind leg. I was still at a much higher airspeed than him so I don't believe we got dangerously close but the gobosh did not enter the downwind on a 45 degree angle at midfield as the pilot reported they would. Also I do not believe they had an operating transponder on board because (although it is workload permitting) ATC did not notify me of the aircraft prior to my cancellation of flight following and I did not pick up the aircraft on my tis system. This operation was taking place within the 30 NM mode C veil of the den class B airport.I do not believe this was an immediate safety concern but it was unsettling and situations like this could lead to closer calls in the future. In the future I am going to take more time and be more suspicious of the position reports I hear on CTAF.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: The pilots of a C-182 and a Gobosh Light Sport Aircraft suffered a technical NMAC upon entering the pattern at an untowered airport despite discussing their intentions on CTAF. A bright snowy background making spotting traffic difficult conspired to deny them visual contact with one another until they were within three hundred feet vertically and horizontally while on downwind.
Narrative: I was preparing to overfly the field and enter a right traffic pattern to land on Runway 15. I reported my intentions on CTAF after canceling VFR flight following radar services and received a report in return from a Gobosh southwest of the field that was also inbound for landing. We had determined after some reports back and forth that I; being in the faster 182 and having equivalent altitude to the Gobosh would be able to enter the right downwind for Runway 15 without him being a factor. The Gobosh advised they would enter the Right Downwind for Runway 15 on a 45 degree entry angle midfield.Due to the snow on the ground and mountains; I was unable to see the Gobosh against the white background and he was no longer making understandable position reports. Because we had already determined that I would enter the pattern before that aircraft; I overflew the field and entered a normal downwind. There were no other aircraft in the vicinity of the airport. The Gobosh pilot then notified me that they had me in sight at 12 o' clock. I looked back and saw the Gobosh much closer than I had expected to; behind me; on the downwind leg. I was still at a much higher airspeed than him so I don't believe we got dangerously close but the Gobosh did not enter the downwind on a 45 degree angle at midfield as the pilot reported they would. Also I do not believe they had an operating transponder on board because (although it is workload permitting) ATC did not notify me of the aircraft prior to my cancellation of flight following and I did not pick up the aircraft on my TIS system. This operation was taking place within the 30 NM Mode C veil of the DEN Class B airport.I do not believe this was an immediate safety concern but it was unsettling and situations like this could lead to closer calls in the future. In the future I am going to take more time and be more suspicious of the position reports I hear on CTAF.
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.