Narrative:

A friend and I were flying from fdr to T47. We contacted shephard approach, were given a squawk, altimeter setting, and radar idented. Several aircraft were called to us as traffic. We saw them and responded. At the sps VOR, approach asked if we had kickapoo in sight. We said we did. He said 'squawk VFR, change to advisory frequency approved.' I changed the squawk, but remained on his frequency and stayed at my previous altitude (3000 ft). Less than 1 min later, my passenger (a flight instructor) alerted me to traffic. It was a T38 at 12 O'clock, just below our altitude. We decided to keep him in sight, and to wait to determine if he was a collision threat. As we had just been handed off, we felt the controller would call us to him and it would be better to be predictable. We had him in sight at all times. Both of us maintained our altitude and I never felt evasive action was required. He passed directly beneath us, about 300 ft lower, and I suspect at about 250-300 KTS. We felt no turbulence, sustained no damage, and landed safely. The main reason for the report is that the controller handed us off much earlier than usual and we might have been misled into thinking that there was no traffic about. In fact, we spotted 3 different T-38's in the 4-5 mins it took to go from the VOR to kickapoo. We felt that the controller could have been more helpful. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter was rather surprised to be released for his visual approach to T47 while still over the sps air traffic area. He had not had this experience before. He discussed this procedure with a supervisor and he feels that the site personnel are not concerned enough about this practice. The T-38 is a difficult aircraft to see, particularly head on, and there were a lot of T-38's in the sps pattern.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: NMAC. THE PLT IS RELEASED FOR A VISUAL APCH TO 1 ARPT WHILE OVER THE ATA OF ANOTHER ARPT AND COMES CLOSE TO AN ACFT IN THE OTHER ARPT'S TFC PATTERN.

Narrative: A FRIEND AND I WERE FLYING FROM FDR TO T47. WE CONTACTED SHEPHARD APCH, WERE GIVEN A SQUAWK, ALTIMETER SETTING, AND RADAR IDENTED. SEVERAL ACFT WERE CALLED TO US AS TFC. WE SAW THEM AND RESPONDED. AT THE SPS VOR, APCH ASKED IF WE HAD KICKAPOO IN SIGHT. WE SAID WE DID. HE SAID 'SQUAWK VFR, CHANGE TO ADVISORY FREQ APPROVED.' I CHANGED THE SQUAWK, BUT REMAINED ON HIS FREQ AND STAYED AT MY PREVIOUS ALT (3000 FT). LESS THAN 1 MIN LATER, MY PAX (A FLT INSTRUCTOR) ALERTED ME TO TFC. IT WAS A T38 AT 12 O'CLOCK, JUST BELOW OUR ALT. WE DECIDED TO KEEP HIM IN SIGHT, AND TO WAIT TO DETERMINE IF HE WAS A COLLISION THREAT. AS WE HAD JUST BEEN HANDED OFF, WE FELT THE CTLR WOULD CALL US TO HIM AND IT WOULD BE BETTER TO BE PREDICTABLE. WE HAD HIM IN SIGHT AT ALL TIMES. BOTH OF US MAINTAINED OUR ALT AND I NEVER FELT EVASIVE ACTION WAS REQUIRED. HE PASSED DIRECTLY BENEATH US, ABOUT 300 FT LOWER, AND I SUSPECT AT ABOUT 250-300 KTS. WE FELT NO TURB, SUSTAINED NO DAMAGE, AND LANDED SAFELY. THE MAIN REASON FOR THE RPT IS THAT THE CTLR HANDED US OFF MUCH EARLIER THAN USUAL AND WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN MISLED INTO THINKING THAT THERE WAS NO TFC ABOUT. IN FACT, WE SPOTTED 3 DIFFERENT T-38'S IN THE 4-5 MINS IT TOOK TO GO FROM THE VOR TO KICKAPOO. WE FELT THAT THE CTLR COULD HAVE BEEN MORE HELPFUL. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR WAS RATHER SURPRISED TO BE RELEASED FOR HIS VISUAL APCH TO T47 WHILE STILL OVER THE SPS ATA. HE HAD NOT HAD THIS EXPERIENCE BEFORE. HE DISCUSSED THIS PROC WITH A SUPVR AND HE FEELS THAT THE SITE PERSONNEL ARE NOT CONCERNED ENOUGH ABOUT THIS PRACTICE. THE T-38 IS A DIFFICULT ACFT TO SEE, PARTICULARLY HEAD ON, AND THERE WERE A LOT OF T-38'S IN THE SPS PATTERN.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.