BACK TO BASICS
MICHAEL CHURCH
FEBRUARY, 2003

FINAL

Last month's column--one of a series on pattern management--ended with this teaser:

But wait–there's more! An even higher number of pattern collisions occur on final than at the "coffin corner."

There is no question that when it comes to the potential for mid-air collisions, final is the most hazardous leg of every flight. You might think that with all of your focus on the landing runway, there is no way some one else could slip in ahead or under you, but it happens: every year there are accidents involving pilots who collide as they converge on the threshold.

In explaining this phenomenon, it's important to recognize that the opportunities to see and avoid conflicting traffic are very limited once you roll out on final. The only clear-cut way to prevent conflicts is to make sure they don't exist BEFORE that point. That is what you do on DOWNWIND and BASE.

DOWNWIND
When you examine the situation, collisions on final result from simple pattern mismanagement. One easy way to contribute is to carelessly assume you know who you are following. Even at towered fields, the possibility for error exists--airplanes are quick,, and controllers need only moments of inattention for problems to develop.

Assume you have been given a landing sequence by a controller: number Three to follow a Cessna. You look ahead on downwind--there it is. They turn base, you follow--and suddenly you are uncomfortably close to yet another plane. You've been following number One, and now you and number Two are trying to be in the same place at the same time.

Given the difficulty of actually seeing everybody else up there, the only sure way to avoid this situation is to clear the entire traffic pattern ahead the minute you receive your sequence. In the example above, this would mean looking immediately at the threshold for number One, then backtracking visually up final and across base until you find both airplanes. Until you do, it is unsafe to assume you know who to follow.

Of course, if number One has landed and turned off, you can drive yourself crazy trying to locate it: that's the argument for starting your search at the threshold and working backwards--you're much less likely to miss anyone.

BASE
The areas you must clear while on base, assuming a left hand pattern, start with the extended final to your right. You're looking for "straight-ins," especially down low, and planes you might yourself have cut off by turning base too early.

The next area to clear while on base is the downwind leg that now lies behind and over your left shoulder. Here, the concern is with following traffic that might turn in early and start to cut you off.

Finally, you must clear the OPPOSING base leg to make sure no one is approaching from the other side. The closest I have ever come to hitting another plane involved turning left onto a high slipping final only to have an airplane from the "wrong" side slide in underneath as I turned. The stage was set perfectly for me to let down right on top, an incident that wouldn't have been improved a bit by the fact it was all someone else's fault.

Here's a good rule: if you hit somebody, it's your fault. Who else are you going to blame? Fortunately, we didn't collide, but the whole incident could have been avoided by spending slightly more time clearing while on base.

RADIO
Good communication is an important key to pattern safety--with or without a tower, Chatter directed specifically at making sure you know the whereabouts of everyone else on frequency can be a tremendous help. Just make sure you don't make the mistake of assuming that's everybody, period: radios aren't mandatory in every situation. Some hints in that direction next time.