PA28 pilot; cleared on a designated airport transition route; reported a near collision with an air ...

Attributes
ACN	1413178
Time
Date	201612
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Tower
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-28R Cherokee Arrow All Series
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40 Flight Crew Total 960 Flight Crew Type 625
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Miss Distance	Horizontal 500 Vertical 800

Narrative:

I am reporting [a near] collision today as a result of proximity of less than 500 feet with another aircraft. I asked the traffic controller to proceed at 1;500 feet on the transition along the shoreline; that was acknowledged and approved by the controller. Upon transitioning; in a matter of seconds; a [commercial flight] was on upwind headed directly to us. We notified ATC immediately and diverted. Thankfully the crew of the [airline] dove down to avoid the collision. The manager of shift at ATC indicated that the controller was a trainee and was left unattended for a while as he had another issue. When he heard my call he immediately rolled the tape and concluded that it was a misunderstanding of the controller of my request and approving something that wasn't clear; followed by the poor judgment of clearing for takeoff the [airline] flight at the same time I was at 1;500 feet going over the end of the runway transitioning as required on this area.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA28 Pilot; cleared on a designated airport transition route; reported a near collision with an Air Carrier flight that had been cleared to takeoff towards the PA28's position.

Narrative: I am reporting [a near] collision today as a result of proximity of less than 500 feet with another aircraft. I asked the Traffic Controller to proceed at 1;500 feet on the transition along the shoreline; that was acknowledged and approved by the Controller. Upon transitioning; in a matter of seconds; a [commercial flight] was on upwind headed directly to us. We notified ATC immediately and diverted. Thankfully the crew of the [Airline] dove down to avoid the collision. The manager of shift at ATC indicated that the Controller was a Trainee and was left unattended for a while as he had another issue. When he heard my call he immediately rolled the tape and concluded that it was a misunderstanding of the Controller of my request and approving something that wasn't clear; followed by the poor judgment of clearing for takeoff the [Airline] flight at the same time I was at 1;500 feet going over the end of the runway transitioning as required on this area.

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.

PA28 pilot; cleared on a designated airport transition route; reported a near collision with an air carrier flight that had been cleared to takeoff towards the PA28's position.