1. Back in 2006 when I was doing my VFR Navigation flight up North towards NZNP, I have planned to do a touch & go at NZWU on the way up. NZWU is not a controlled aerodrome in a MBZ. Weather information is available for NZWU through the AWIB. Therefore, the runway in use is determined by the pilot operating in the area.

As I approached NZWU, I got the weather and it was favoring the South facing Runway. I made my calls in the MBZ and heard nothing on the air so I just carried on my approach into NZWU as per planned. However, as I called overhead and joining left hand downwind for the approach, another aircraft called up and broadcasted that he was on the finals of the reciprocal runway for a touch and go before carrying on his journey down south. By then, I was already on the left hand downwind. I called for him to make a left hand turn upwind instead of his broadcasted intention to vacate via the right hand downwind (which was where I was coming in from). I did not get a response from him so I watched him as he did his touch and go. Hoping that he knew I was there from my broadcast and attempt to communicate with him, to my horror, he made a right turn and started heading towards me. I managed to space myself out on a wider downwind before carrying out my approach. When our aircrafts passed each other, it was near enough for me to see the shock on the pilot's face to see the proximity of our aircrafts.

A few things I learnt from this:
a. Airmanship - Always broadcast even when you think that no one is listening
b. Airmanship - Always use the runway the wind is favoring if it is an uncontrolled aerodrome. If you decide to otherwise, do broadcast your intentions
c. Communication - Listen out and not just broadcast for the sake of broadcasting.
d. Situational Awareness - Always know what the other pilot is doing and how it will affect you.

2. In 2007, I was returning from an IFR NAV on a Seneca into NZPM. We came in for Rwy 07 for the circling approach for Rwy 25. The circuit area then was active and there were about 2 other aircrafts in the circuit. I shot my approach down to 700' and broke right to circle left for Rwy 25 as requested by ATC. As I joined left hand downwind for 25, there was another single engined aircraft at 1100' ahead of me. Tower gave instructions to the other aircraft above us to make a right hand orbit at his position to allow us to land first since we were lower and will be faster than him. The pilot acknowledged the instruction of the ATC. However, as we continued to fly downwind, we saw that the guy did not make an orbit and instead, he started descending and turning left to join base for the approach. Immediately, we made a right turn and informed tower that we'll orbiting due to traffic closing in on us from above for the approach. Tower later made the pilot land for a full stop and we continued our approach after him.

Few lessons from here:
a. Communication - Always understand the instructions from ATC and not just read them back because it is the right thing to do
b. Situational Awareness - Always know where the other aircraft are even though you are under radar coverage
c. Situational Awareness - Always know what the instructions ATC gives you is about and not just follow blindly. ATC may have made a mistake or someone else flying or even yourself may have made a mistake.

After the flight, I had a talk about my decision with the instructor. He mentioned that the decision was good, however it was very poor communication as I didn't say "ABORT!!!" and also insufficient braking applied when the decision was to abort. At least I should have told him my decision to abort before acting so. He also mentioned that if I had told him he would still be happy to continue the takeoff. And also when decide to abort the aircraft due to many reason, maximum braking should applied.

The big thing I learnt from this flight was that when aborting the takeoff maximum braking should be applied to stop aircraft within available distance. It was lucky that there was a flat grass surface after the Grass runway at Palmerston North. What if it was something else?? And also the effective communication between crew is always required, especially when flying with a flight instructor who is the Pilot in Command and has more experience in flying as at the time I only about 12 hours of experience.

What I learned from this incident is that a clear and good understanding of airspace is very important, and it can help understand the instructions obtained from ATC. Secondly, any time if unsure about any clearance, do not hesitate to ask. A confirmation on clearance is better than doing something wrong.

What is far more concerning is the apparent lack of aerodrome control in the above incident. Any time there are two or more aircraft in the circuit, “ATC should advise the pilots of their position in the landing sequence and of the aircraft immediately ahead of them, including an instruction to follow or position behind the aircraft concerned” (CAA Advisory Circular AC172-2, 2.1.11).

E.g. “ABC continue approach number 3 for Runway ##, follow the Cherokee on left base”

A pilot’s acknowledgement of instructions to “FOLLOW” another aircraft is the acceptance of visual separation from the preceding aircraft, and the pilot must advise ATC if visual contact with the other aircraft is lost or cannot be maintained (NZ AIP Vol.1, ENR 1.1 – 28).

Your “traffic in sight” call seems ambiguous if you were given no detailed information on the preceding aircraft (i.e. aircraft type and position), and should have been questioned by ATC.

If you ever experience any similar incidents involving a loss of separation (and hopefully you don’t!), then please ensure you also report them through the proper channels. The subsequent investigation should help strengthen the safety system going forward.

Cheers, DM

the lesson I learnt here is to always to have a back up plan(like we had our cell phones on just incase) and always do ur checks

Till this day Im not sure weather it was me counting the wrong plane or was the ATC's miscount of planes.

Incident Overview:
This incident occurred during my last revision (solo) flight before the PPL flight exam. The day was fine with lots of flying activity.
It was near the end of the flight, after returning from the STA, I decided to practice some circuits. It was meant to be a full-stop, short field landing on grass 25at NZPM. A Beech-1900 aircraft was holding short of grass on taxiway 1 while a Cessna 152 had just lined up on sealed 25.
As I approached closer to short finals, I was cleared to land and soon after which the Cessna was cleared for take-off. It was a stressful landing due to the number of aircraft operating in close proximity to each other, there was no margin for error. As I got closer to the runway I started to flare and just before touch-down the aircraft had ballooned. My immediate action was to carry out a go-around and almost instantly I realised that I will have to cross the sealed runway. I applied full power and carried out the go-around procedure as per normal, also informing the tower. At approx 600ft I initiated a right-hand turn to the crosswind leg.
My Lookout was thorough and as I scanned over my right shoulder I could see that Cessna getting airborne and climbing straight at me. The Cessna was at approx 100ft. I was scared and shocked to see that aircraft coming right at me. Due to my poor situational awareness and high work load, I was not aware when it had been cleared for takeoff. I was too busy flying the aircraft and did not pay much attention on what was being said over the radio.
For some reason I had initially planned to request a non-standard left hand for grass 25 (after my go around) but in the end I did not which lead to such a situation. I managed to carry out the rest of the circuit as per normal and land safely.
Many questions still remain unanswered, such as: was ATC aware what had just happened, was ATC meant to clear me for a non-standard left hand circuit, was this situation ‘normal’ and I just found it too close for comfort due to my level of experience?

Lesson learnt:
- Situation awareness was not at my personal best when it should have been especially when the aerodrome was busy
- More importance should have been given on LOOKOUT before turning crosswind
- This situation would have been prevented by requesting a non-standard left hand circuit
-Not to rely solely on ATC to provide traffic information because they can make mistakes too, especially when the work load is high.

I informed my instructor of what had happened and he said that he saw what happen, while standing out there just watching other aeroplanes. He then told me that what i did was right thing to do and that he had already reported the incident and contacted the organisation about what happened. The aircraft was found to be a NORDO aircraft. In which he had no radio to make calls or receive any. The same aircraft has been a problem in the past for the aerodrome and that the airport company had warned the organisation to get a radio as the traffic density was dangerous for it to operate without one.

he also reminded me the importance of even if you are NORDO, you need to maintain a good look out and manoeuvre in a way in which u can join the circuit but give room to other aircraft as far as practicable to get visual of you, that comes in the form of rocking wings at different intervals of time during the circuit, following the preceding aircrafts flight path as close as practicable in circuits and if an option take a secondary or grass runway from where the main traffic is landing. So as to provide a margin of safety from those who are not paying attention. However in airspace like Ardmore where radio calls are on-going, making the brain fry out quite easily, a methodical scan of the circuit is needed.

my methodical search of traffic to know how many aircraft are ahead of you in the circuit, which i have learnt from Ardmore is, you start from the touch down point of the active runway, then work your way up the final approach leg, back up the base leg, back down the downwind leg to your current position, noting how many aircraft are ahead of you, by doing this u note their position and build up a situation awareness of where and who you are following.

Thanks

dagger20

He then explained that he agreed that it was unfortunate that it happened but that i need to understand that when working in a real airline environment, there will be many of screw ups and mishandlings that will cause me as a pilot to wait on the ground longer or rectify to them as soon as possible. The pilot will get yelled at, grilled etc….but once the task is complete then there are no hang ups. However a pilot must also exercise restraint in letting the frustrations of these events get under his skin and follow him into the cockpit.

When entering the cockpit, it is advised that all frustrations and problems of the world be left at the door of the aircraft, when in the cockpit, the pilot should only have his full concentration on the task of flying the aircraft. Once complete and he leaves the cockpit, he then picks up his mental baggage and continues on with his life. When a pilot does not leave his mental baggage at the aircraft door, he is inviting errors and frustration that will reduce mental and physical performance to a point which may cause and incident or accident that is not needed. It also invites bad interaction between crew that will break down crew communication and efficiency as a unit. This also inevitably leads to poor performance.

Once i thought about it, he was very much correct and i have no followed this piece advice ever since. And i hope other pilots do as well.

Thanks

dagger20

I asked my class mate who had also done a few flights if he was ok with navigating, he said yes, and so gave him the map to look out for towns, however, due to his inexperience, we were not sure if which town was which in the end. As we approached Parapraumu we mistook it for Otaki, and continued past the town. On the way through we decided to stay inland rather than use the coast to our advantage. We found ourselves getting close to terrain of the central ranges half way through to flight. This in hindsight would have been a good idea. I was then pointed out to the runway being in the centre of built up area in which i told others was what we were looking for. I then turned back around and flew at circuit re-join height along the heading off runway on the approach plate. Which was the runway on the ground, we then determined it was Parapraumu, joined non-traffic side and joined the circuit for a touch and go landing. From there preceded back to Palmerston north, now properly navigating that i had taken the map away from my mate and made sure each town i passed was the correct one.

what i learned from that flight, was that I as the PIC should have been more responsible in that i should be navigating myself rather than allowing someone else with less experience at the time to do it. I should have "couch flown" the flight choosing the most appropriate route which in this case should have been the coast to avoid the inland rising terrain. That i verify each township when passing overhead that it is the correct township in, shape and area of township. that i brief adequately the passengers on the route, what to expect and what to look out for en-route and providing comfort to passengers when things didn’t go to plan so as to make them feel calm rather than nervous.

Thanks

dagger 20

I later came back to Palmerston at the end of the flight in which i was told an incident notification was filed and i had to report to the safety officer to explain what happened. I had explained the story above to him. He was very nice about the whole incident as i felt like a complete and total idiot having flown for many hours and this has happened.

He explained that we are all human and things like this happen, but also explained that this is no little matter, since i was conducting a VFR flight it can be considered a slap on the hand, but if this was an IFR flight, the consequences would be dire. The reason for this is that legally IFR flights are required to maintain a listening watch with on the applicable frequencies for a couple of reasons.

firstly is that IFR flights due to them mostly operating in cloud without outside visual reference, need to be closely monitored and position verified with ATC so that in the event of an accident in which the aircraft does not report back or problem requiring the aircraft to divert, ATC can better facilitate them knowing where there position is weather be under radar or outside radar coverage. This allows fast SAR deployment to the area in which the aircraft is thought to be in order to better the odds of finding the aircraft or allows the pilot to be given options on aerodromes, terrain information or other likely places in the area that can help the pilot in event problems.

The second is traffic separation and avoidance. ATC can provide traffic information and usually separation depending on class of airspace to IFR traffic from other aircraft operating in the vicinity.

for these reasons i have been told, that listening watch should be maintained on ATC control frequencies, if you need to listen to a weak ATIS, either get closer to the station or turn the volume to full noise, lower com 1 volume to which u can still hear transmissions quietly so that u can attend to them while listening to ATIS.

thanks

dagger 20