Mid-air Takes Two Lives

The pilot of a Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub had just departed his private strip in Mattawa, Ontario, in good VFR visibility conditions. He intended to do a couple of local circuits alone as a first flight after having recently installed skis. He was to depart later with a passenger to visit a nearby fishing camp. After takeoff, the pilot flew circuits over the southwest area of the town. Simultaneously, the pilot of a Kitfox IV/A was flying local VFR circuits. The Piper Super Cub was observed flying northeasterly towards the town and the Kitfox was observed flying southwesterly over the town when the two aircraft collided over Sid Turcotte Park.

This is a worst case interception of about 90° to each other and possibly at the same altitude in level flight. This could have been prevented if one or both pilots were maintaining a scan that included good head movement to observe targets in blind spots, such as behind door posts, as would have been applicable in this case. The collision angle fosters speculation that both were stationary targets near or behind a door post or window post and thus both remained invisible to each other until the collision. I could list numerous cases of this near airport/local flying type of mid-air collision; however, I would like to focus on avoidance. There are several tools that pilots can use for local separation, including radios, prior discussions, landing lights or, in the case of ultralights, the spotlight, pre-flight briefing with other area pilot or pilots doing simultaneous flights in a particular area and, last but not least, using proper procedures around airports. — Ed.

Where do procedures apply? Procedures mean following the widely accepted doctrine for altitudes, tracks and, if applicable, radio calls while operating within or near a circuit, including the approach for overflying the airport or private strip for the purpose of landing. Private strips are no different from airports because other aircraft can be present. The circuit rules published in the A.I.P. are designed to protect pilots against such accidents by establishing set procedures to allow pilots to form an organized circuit and landing pattern. There are procedures for radio-equipped aircraft and for those operating NORDO. Last but not least is scanning out of the cockpit — LOOK OUT. Do not focus on one area; look all around the aircraft and change the nose position of the aircraft to detect targets hidden by posts or other obstructions. Scan for ground shadows of other aircraft that might be above you and too close, particularly on VFR days. Leave in-cockpit chores, such as programming GPS or folding maps, until you are clear of the circuit and keep totally focused on the area all around your aircraft, allowing yourself to be interrupted only by necessary radio calls and response. This is defensive flying and, if practiced, can eliminate you from becoming a mid-air statistic. I also speak from my own many close encounters; during some of these encounters I actually observed that the pilot in the other aircraft did not see my aircraft or my avoidance manoeuvre.