Pilot reported receiving a traffic alert shortly after takeoff requiring immediate evasive action. P...

Narrative:

Departing runway 1; given initial heading 330; climb to 2;000. Tower handed off to phl approach. Approach cleared me to 9;000. Approach then called traffic alert one o'clock turn immediately to 270 degrees. After I did not respond immediately; approach said 'radio check' turn immediately to 270 degrees. I responded; turned and continued my climb. Traffic (I never saw) passed behind me. Several factors contributed:1. Other aircraft was in ilg class D airspace apparently not in contact with ilg tower or approach.2. Ilg tower controller may have been 'in training.'3. Phl approach controller was incredibly busy; potentially missing the potential conflict until he received a traffic alert. As the country is 'opening up' post covid; anticipated level of weekend air traffic appeared to be underestimated.4. Controller called the traffic at 1 O'clock; turn left. Natural tendency to want to look for the traffic; which would be blocked by the engine/wing in the turn. This delayed my action. Suggestion: controller state 'traffic alert' make immediate turn to XXX. Do not state the location of the traffic. If it's that urgent; it's too late to start looking.5. My avionics unit was in flight plan mode (anticipating getting a 'cleared direct to' (which I received almost immediately after the incident)); not traffic mode. Even though I was in class D airspace; overlaid by class B; on an IFR clearance and given a radar vector; it was VMC. Having the avionics unit set to traffic would have potentially provided an additional traffic alert. Difficult to say as this all happened in the first 60-90 seconds after takeoff when workload is at the highest.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Pilot reported receiving a traffic alert shortly after takeoff requiring immediate evasive action. Pilot noted that the PHL TRACON Controller seemed incredibly busy; thereby potentially missing the conflict.

Narrative: Departing Runway 1; given initial heading 330; climb to 2;000. Tower handed off to PHL Approach. Approach cleared me to 9;000. Approach then called Traffic Alert one o'clock turn immediately to 270 degrees. After I did not respond immediately; Approach said 'radio check' turn immediately to 270 degrees. I responded; turned and continued my climb. Traffic (I never saw) passed behind me. Several factors contributed:1. Other aircraft was in ILG Class D airspace apparently not in contact with ILG Tower or Approach.2. ILG Tower Controller may have been 'in training.'3. PHL Approach Controller was incredibly busy; potentially missing the potential conflict until he received a traffic alert. As the country is 'opening up' post COVID; anticipated level of weekend air traffic appeared to be underestimated.4. Controller called the traffic at 1 O'clock; turn left. Natural tendency to want to look for the traffic; which would be blocked by the engine/wing in the turn. This delayed my action. Suggestion: Controller state 'Traffic Alert' make immediate turn to XXX. Do not state the location of the traffic. If it's that urgent; it's too late to start looking.5. My avionics unit was in flight plan mode (anticipating getting a 'cleared direct to' (which I received almost immediately after the incident)); not traffic mode. Even though I was in Class D airspace; overlaid by Class B; on an IFR clearance and given a Radar Vector; it was VMC. Having the avionics unit set to traffic would have potentially provided an additional traffic alert. Difficult to say as this all happened in the first 60-90 seconds after takeoff when workload is at the highest.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1746493
Time
Date	202006
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ILG.Airport
State Reference	DE
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 34 Flight Crew Total 3420 Flight Crew Type 325
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Pilot reported receiving a traffic alert shortly after takeoff requiring immediate evasive action. Pilot noted that the phl TRACON controller seemed incredibly busy; thereby potentially missing the conflict.