Story 25

Story 25

The Piper and Cessna pilot were both inbound to the same airport. The Cessna pilot reportedto the local controller that he was 13.5 miles to the northeast/of the airport.

The LocalControllerdirected the pilot to report entering a left downwind, and the pilot continued on south heading for 4 miles before turning right to a southwest heading.

The Piper pilot contacted the LC  and reported 10 miles to the north of the airport. The LC directed the Piper pilot to enter a left downwind. The LC noticed two VFR targets close to one another.

Assuming the target on a southwest heading was a VFR helicopter when it was actually the Cessna, the LC issued conflict traffic to the southbound aircraft, assuming it was the Cessna pilot when it was actually the Piper pilot, and the Cessna pilot acknowledged the traffic call.

Forty one seconds later, the Piper pilot informed the LC of the collision and declared an emergency. (161 words)