PiperPilot1
Filing Flight Plan
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2024
- Messages
- 22
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PiperPilot1
Hello Everyone,
I had a close call today...I figured Id post it here and see if I could get some advice.
The scenario is: I'm towing banners up and down the beach at 500ft. I am a new commercial pilot and am loving my first job. All is well and its toward the end of the day, Im avoiding parasailers and the usual weekend traffic, and I hear a call on CTAF of a small jet approaching one of our VFR checkpoints at my same altitude. Im also in the same location and we are approaching head on based off his position report, but I dont see him. I make a call and start raising my wings looking for him, and start a slow turn to see If I can see him. Right as I start my turn he passes off my right side; just as Im turning to the right...and it was...really, really close. Like within 200ft?
I stopped my turn and he came back on the radio saying I turned into him. I apologized and he said "no worries I saw you the whole time" and that was that.
I do feel really bad that I didnt see him, and Im usually putting my plane in a slip from side to side so I can see in front of me (not a lot of forward visibility towing banners in a tail dragger) but this time just caught me off guard. I looked at the ADSB data later and he was going like 170kts while Im doing 45 lol...I mean, even if I did see him, I think It would have been hard to get out of his way. But Im equally to blame, as I should have had a better scan going and reacted better.
Should I file a NASA report? Should I report it as a near miss? Or just chalk it up to a really sobering learning experience? What say you more experienced aviators?
I had a close call today...I figured Id post it here and see if I could get some advice.
The scenario is: I'm towing banners up and down the beach at 500ft. I am a new commercial pilot and am loving my first job. All is well and its toward the end of the day, Im avoiding parasailers and the usual weekend traffic, and I hear a call on CTAF of a small jet approaching one of our VFR checkpoints at my same altitude. Im also in the same location and we are approaching head on based off his position report, but I dont see him. I make a call and start raising my wings looking for him, and start a slow turn to see If I can see him. Right as I start my turn he passes off my right side; just as Im turning to the right...and it was...really, really close. Like within 200ft?
I stopped my turn and he came back on the radio saying I turned into him. I apologized and he said "no worries I saw you the whole time" and that was that.
I do feel really bad that I didnt see him, and Im usually putting my plane in a slip from side to side so I can see in front of me (not a lot of forward visibility towing banners in a tail dragger) but this time just caught me off guard. I looked at the ADSB data later and he was going like 170kts while Im doing 45 lol...I mean, even if I did see him, I think It would have been hard to get out of his way. But Im equally to blame, as I should have had a better scan going and reacted better.
Should I file a NASA report? Should I report it as a near miss? Or just chalk it up to a really sobering learning experience? What say you more experienced aviators?