Narrative:

Enroute to coe with flight following I was roughly following the ILS localizer for runway 05 to navigate to the airport; which I had never been to. When I switched to the local coe frequency; I heard two other planes approaching; one about 12 miles out and one about 20; but none in the pattern. I think I made two calls indicating a straight-in approach and my distance. After I called at about three miles; a kid in a twin announced he was taking off on runway 05 at coeur d'alene. I couldn't see anyone on the runway or the nearby taxiways. I wondered if I was at the wrong airport; or if he was on another runway and mistaken. Then I saw a white twin with very long wings fast-taxiing up to the runway. He pulled onto the end of the runway in a take-off position and seemed to stop. Several thoughts went through my mind; some not rational in retrospect. 'Does he expect me to fly over him and land?' 'if he goes; will I have enough space to land behind him?' 'it's illegal to have two planes on the runway at the same time at an uncontrolled airport.' 'I can't do a go-around or missed approach because he might climb into me.' I decided I had to get away from the runway; so I banked left; started climbing; and radioed 'skylane XXX circling left because of the plane on the runway.' the kid immediately radioed 'that wasn't necessary; I was off the runway almost immediately.....oh! I guess you were close!......sorry.' it sounded like he had just seen me on his left. I climbed to three or four hundred feet AGL while turning; concentrating hard on keeping up airspeed and a low bank angle; and making sure there were no obstructions. I hadn't heard anyone else in the pattern; but I was still reluctant to climb into the pattern; so I continued around to final again; making a call for turning final. I either did a lousy circle or drifted in a crosswind; because I overshot runway alignment; continued the circle until I was lined up again; and made a normal landing; but too far down the runway to make the midfield exit. So I taxied the two-thirds mile or so to the end of the runway. I had never considered this type of emergency; so I didn't have a plan. I assume turning away was the only possible action; but should I have climbed to traffic pattern altitude and extended into a normal pattern? I suggest having pilots at safety seminars consider what they would do. And I recommend that flight schools teach their students that it's always better to wait for a takeoff than to risk making a takeoff too close in front of a landing plane. I did some dangerous flying because this kid couldn't wait a minute. I'm glad my wife has developed confidence in me or that might have been the last flight she went on with me.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C182 Private pilot on short final following a long straight in approach to COE suffered a ground conflict with a light twin which pulled onto the runway for takeoff in front of him.

Narrative: Enroute to COE with flight following I was roughly following the ILS localizer for Runway 05 to navigate to the airport; which I had never been to. When I switched to the local COE frequency; I heard two other planes approaching; one about 12 miles out and one about 20; but none in the pattern. I think I made two calls indicating a straight-in approach and my distance. After I called at about three miles; a kid in a twin announced he was taking off on Runway 05 at Coeur d'Alene. I couldn't see anyone on the runway or the nearby taxiways. I wondered if I was at the wrong airport; or if he was on another runway and mistaken. Then I saw a white twin with very long wings fast-taxiing up to the runway. He pulled onto the end of the runway in a take-off position and seemed to stop. Several thoughts went through my mind; some not rational in retrospect. 'Does he expect me to fly over him and land?' 'If he goes; will I have enough space to land behind him?' 'It's illegal to have two planes on the runway at the same time at an uncontrolled airport.' 'I can't do a go-around or missed approach because he might climb into me.' I decided I had to get away from the runway; so I banked left; started climbing; and radioed 'Skylane XXX circling left because of the plane on the runway.' The kid immediately radioed 'That wasn't necessary; I was off the runway almost immediately.....Oh! I guess you were close!......Sorry.' It sounded like he had just seen me on his left. I climbed to three or four hundred feet AGL while turning; concentrating hard on keeping up airspeed and a low bank angle; and making sure there were no obstructions. I hadn't heard anyone else in the pattern; but I was still reluctant to climb into the pattern; so I continued around to final again; making a call for turning final. I either did a lousy circle or drifted in a crosswind; because I overshot runway alignment; continued the circle until I was lined up again; and made a normal landing; but too far down the runway to make the midfield exit. So I taxied the two-thirds mile or so to the end of the runway. I had never considered this type of emergency; so I didn't have a plan. I assume turning away was the only possible action; but should I have climbed to traffic pattern altitude and extended into a normal pattern? I suggest having pilots at safety seminars consider what they would do. And I recommend that flight schools teach their students that it's always better to wait for a takeoff than to risk making a takeoff too close in front of a landing plane. I did some dangerous flying because this kid couldn't wait a minute. I'm glad my wife has developed confidence in me or that might have been the last flight she went on with me.

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.