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Two pilots involved in a midair collision during a low altitude formation flight describe the circumstances that caused the event.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1174973 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201405 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Amateur/Home Built/Experimental |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Amateur/Home Built/Experimental |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 74 Flight Crew Total 4500 Flight Crew Type 900 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 5000 Flight Crew Type 2000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
| Miss Distance | Horizontal 0 Vertical 0 |
Narrative:
During an airshow; while flying the slot position in a 4-ship diamond formation; I overtook the leader (#1) and my propeller struck his tail spring. Half of each propeller blade was cut off/lost. Engine/propeller still producing adequate power/thrust. Both aircraft landed without further incident. Flight was conducted in conjunction with a jet truck as part of the airshow. This truck has 3 jet engines and also large fire plumes coming out the top of the truck. The large heat signature affected the 4-ship flight flying over the top of the truck at approximately 50 feet. Also; the noise and speed of the oncoming jet truck affected my willingness to descend into the path of the oncoming truck to deconflict with my flight lead. I needed to descend to miss my flight lead and did not feel I could do so due to the truck. Corrective actions: higher altitude over the truck. No airshow smoke from #1 at low altitudes.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Two pilots involved in a midair collision during a low altitude formation flight describe the circumstances that caused the event.
Narrative: During an Airshow; while flying the slot position in a 4-ship diamond formation; I overtook the leader (#1) and my propeller struck his tail spring. Half of each propeller blade was cut off/lost. Engine/propeller still producing adequate power/thrust. Both aircraft landed without further incident. Flight was conducted in conjunction with a Jet Truck as part of the Airshow. This truck has 3 jet engines and also large fire plumes coming out the top of the truck. The large heat signature affected the 4-ship flight flying over the top of the truck at approximately 50 feet. Also; the noise and speed of the oncoming Jet Truck affected my willingness to descend into the path of the oncoming truck to deconflict with my flight lead. I needed to descend to miss my flight lead and did not feel I could do so due to the truck. Corrective actions: Higher altitude over the truck. No airshow smoke from #1 at low altitudes.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.