A light twin corporate pilot reported a near miss with a solo student pilot as they both approached ...

Narrative:

I am a corporate pilot. I fly a light twin; part 91 company aircraft. I have flown for this company and the airplane for a few years. I am a retired; 21-year captain for a major airline. Also; I have flown corporate; commuter airlines; and flight instructed for many years. I was on an IFR flight plan to apf with two company executives and their families on board. The apf weather was clear and the visibility was 10 miles. On final approach to runway 32 at 1;100 ft MSL and 3 NM out from the airport I experienced a near miss. Emergency evasive action was taken to avoid a collision. If I had not seen the aircraft in time; there would surely have been an accident. The other airplane; a low wing single engine aircraft; cut in front of me and did not to appear to see me at all. Tower apparently did not see it happening because they said nothing to me or the other airplane until I told them; 'an aircraft just cut me off on final and I missed him by about 50 ft.' initially approaching apf; I was handed off to tower by approach control at about 8 miles out. I told approach control that I had the airport in sight. They cleared me for a visual approach to runway 32. I contacted tower and they said an aircraft was ahead of me and to slow to approach speed. I put gear and flaps out and turned all lights on and slowed to 120 KTS. I then saw the reported aircraft and reported him insight to the tower. The tower said to follow him to the airport. As I was lowering full flaps on final; 3 miles out; I saw a low wing single engine come into view close; to the left; and low in the windshield. He turned final approach directly in front of me and at a much slower speed. I lost sight of him as he went out of view under my nose. I then made an immediate left turn away from that aircraft's direction. I told the tower; 'an aircraft cut me off on final and I missed him by about 50 ft.' I then heard the tower say to the aircraft that he was supposed to have followed us. I turned back toward the airport and tower cleared me to land. Clearing the runway I contacted ground. I asked ground if they had seen what happened. They said; 'yes; it was a student pilot's first solo.' after parking I called the tower and discussed the incident with the controller involved. He said it was a student pilot and that he was supposed to have followed me. The controller said that they were going to send someone to the flight school to talk to them about the incident and that I could call also. I called the flight school and discussed the incident with the student's instructor. He said the student was foreign speaking and was upset and crying. Apf is a very busy class D airport in the fall and winter. It has a mix of corporate heavy jet; piston; and training aircraft. Also; rsw is relatively close; which keeps IFR aircraft high coming into apf. With this challenging environment; new students should not be allowed to solo during peak times at apf. Instructors here should better monitor their students. They should make absolutely sure a new student knows the regulations regarding airport traffic areas and to be able to communicate effectively if they have any problems.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A light twin corporate pilot reported a near miss with a solo student pilot as they both approached APF Runway 32 because the student did not follow the reporter as instructed.

Narrative: I am a corporate pilot. I fly a light twin; Part 91 company aircraft. I have flown for this company and the airplane for a few years. I am a retired; 21-year Captain for a major airline. Also; I have flown corporate; commuter airlines; and flight instructed for many years. I was on an IFR flight plan to APF with two company executives and their families on board. The APF weather was clear and the visibility was 10 miles. On final approach to Runway 32 at 1;100 FT MSL and 3 NM out from the airport I experienced a near miss. Emergency evasive action was taken to avoid a collision. If I had not seen the aircraft in time; there would surely have been an accident. The other airplane; a low wing single engine aircraft; cut in front of me and did not to appear to see me at all. Tower apparently did not see it happening because they said nothing to me or the other airplane until I told them; 'An aircraft just cut me off on final and I missed him by about 50 FT.' Initially approaching APF; I was handed off to Tower by Approach Control at about 8 miles out. I told Approach Control that I had the airport in sight. They cleared me for a visual approach to Runway 32. I contacted Tower and they said an aircraft was ahead of me and to slow to approach speed. I put gear and flaps out and turned all lights on and slowed to 120 KTS. I then saw the reported aircraft and reported him insight to the Tower. The Tower said to follow him to the airport. As I was lowering full flaps on final; 3 miles out; I saw a low wing single engine come into view close; to the left; and low in the windshield. He turned final approach directly in front of me and at a much slower speed. I lost sight of him as he went out of view under my nose. I then made an immediate left turn away from that aircraft's direction. I told the Tower; 'An aircraft cut me off on final and I missed him by about 50 FT.' I then heard the Tower say to the aircraft that he was supposed to have followed us. I turned back toward the airport and Tower cleared me to land. Clearing the runway I contacted Ground. I asked Ground if they had seen what happened. They said; 'Yes; it was a student pilot's first solo.' After parking I called the Tower and discussed the incident with the Controller involved. He said it was a student pilot and that he was supposed to have followed me. The Controller said that they were going to send someone to the flight school to talk to them about the incident and that I could call also. I called the flight school and discussed the incident with the student's Instructor. He said the student was foreign speaking and was upset and crying. APF is a very busy Class D airport in the fall and winter. It has a mix of corporate heavy jet; piston; and training aircraft. Also; RSW is relatively close; which keeps IFR aircraft high coming into APF. With this challenging environment; new students should not be allowed to solo during peak times at APF. Instructors here should better monitor their students. They should make absolutely sure a new student knows the regulations regarding airport traffic areas and to be able to communicate effectively if they have any problems.

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	977444
Time
Date	201110
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	APF.Airport
State Reference	FL
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Transport Low Wing 2 Turboprop Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft Low Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 22000 Flight Crew Type 270.6
Person 2
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Student
Events
Anomaly	Conflict NMAC Deviation - Procedural Clearance
Miss Distance	Horizontal 100 Vertical 50

A light twin corporate pilot reported a near miss with a solo student pilot as they both approached apf runway 32 because the student did not follow the reporter as instructed.