Narrative:

Approach control had cleared me for a visual approach to follow a cherokee on a practice ILS approach short final; and to contact tower. I was cleared to land on [runway] xxr and heard local control tell a cherokee on right downwind for [runway] xxr; to follow a bonanza (me) on final. The next thing I heard was local control ask the cherokee if he was on base leg. Before there was a reply; my passenger yelled that an airplane almost hit us under our wing. I saw the cherokee; number 3 for landing; disappear under our airplane. At the same moment this all happened; local told me to maintain altitude. He told the cherokee to continue north; if there was an instructor on board and to call the tower; that he had a pilot deviation. It was one of the local training school airplanes doing pattern work. He; local; then cleared me to land; again.I fly into this airport every month; and I am also a former controller and a recently retired airline captain. I am very keen to listen to all traffic; and keep an awareness of the traffic. This day; I was busy looking for my short final cherokee traffic to make sure I was not catching up to him. I have an ipad with wingx pro; that displays traffic; but neither of these cherokees have ads-B; so they do not show up. My passenger was also trying to find the cherokee short final with me; while also checking the ipad. The one drawback; local was also working ground control and never issued a timely alert to me about the errant cherokee and conflict alert that I am sure was going off in the cab. I was a flight instructor many years ago; so I know how it can be distracting to try and teach while also maintaining safety. This flight school needs to have a review of their procedures and standards.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Bonanza pilot and a Piper PA28 flight instructor reported that misunderstanding of ATC instructions caused a NMAC.

Narrative: Approach Control had cleared me for a visual approach to follow a Cherokee on a practice ILS approach short final; and to contact Tower. I was cleared to land on [Runway] XXR and heard Local Control tell a Cherokee on right downwind for [Runway] XXR; to follow a Bonanza (me) on Final. The next thing I heard was Local Control ask the Cherokee if he was on base leg. Before there was a reply; my passenger yelled that an airplane almost hit us under our wing. I saw the Cherokee; number 3 for landing; disappear under our airplane. At the same moment this all happened; Local told me to maintain altitude. He told the Cherokee to continue north; if there was an instructor on board and to call the Tower; that he had a pilot deviation. It was one of the local training school airplanes doing pattern work. He; Local; then cleared me to land; again.I fly into this airport every month; and I am also a former controller and a recently retired airline Captain. I am very keen to listen to all traffic; and keep an awareness of the traffic. This day; I was busy looking for my short final Cherokee traffic to make sure I was not catching up to him. I have an iPad with WingX Pro; that displays traffic; but neither of these Cherokees have ADS-B; so they do not show up. My passenger was also trying to find the Cherokee short final with me; while also checking the iPad. The one drawback; Local was also working ground control and never issued a timely alert to me about the errant Cherokee and conflict alert that I am sure was going off in the cab. I was a flight instructor many years ago; so I know how it can be distracting to try and teach while also maintaining safety. This flight school needs to have a review of their procedures and standards.

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.