Narrative:

I arrived at the airport at around XA15 and preflted the airplane. I checked the WX again at around XA30. The ceiling was 400 ft overcast and the visibility was 2 1/4 mi. I could see the top of the control tower cabin attendant from the ground, but small wisps of fog were occasionally moving across the field. I started up around XA40 and got my clearance. Pdk was using runway 20L for departures and arrs. I reviewed the departure minimums and procedures for runway 20L before beginning my taxi and confirmed once again that I had adequate climb performance for departure on that runway, due to the note on the approach plate indicating nonstandard takeoff minimums. I got my taxi clearance to runway 20L and proceeded with the taxi. I completed my run-up and switched to tower frequency as I approached the hold line. There was a piston twin in front of me in the run-up area. I reported ready in sequence runway 20L to the tower. I read back instructions to hold short. Tower advised that a king air was 7 mi inbound on the runway 20L ILS. I don't recall if the tower was talking to me or the twin, I just remember hearing the information. The twin was cleared onto the runway and I advanced to the hold short line. At this time, I was not really paying much attention to the WX outside. I clipped the terminal procedures book open to the runway 20L ILS page. There was no announcement that the ATIS had changed, so I assumed we still had a 400 ft ceiling and 2 1/4 mi visibility. The twin was cleared to take off and I was immediately cleared to 'position and hold' on runway 20L. I waited at the hold line because the twin did not take off immediately. Instead, he hesitated for a few seconds and then began to move down the runway. I moved into position on the runway as he moved out of the way. Runway 20L has about a 1000 ft displaced threshold. I was in position at the end and could see pretty well down the runway. Visibility on the ground was good. I waited for takeoff clearance while holding in position. I was beginning to wonder where the king air was and began mentally trying to estimate where he would be at this time. It appeared that the control tower was working the departures (the twin and me) and the arrs (the king air) pretty tightly. As the seconds ticked by, I became concerned. I didn't feel like I would be in actual danger if the king air came in because of the displaced threshold, but I didn't like being on the runway and not knowing where he was. I decided to ask the controller if he wanted me to get off the runway, but before I could key the microphone, I was given my takeoff clearance. I was advised to 'maintain runway heading for now' along with the clearance. I immediately started my takeoff roll. I assumed that the king air must not be as close as I had feared, or they wouldn't be clearing me to take off. I do not recall whether or not the king air was asked to slow down at any time that I was on the frequency. I recall hearing someone being asked to slow down, but I had flown 3 legs during the previous 2 days, and I may now be recalling a transmission from another departure. I'm not sure. I rotated and began my climb. I entered IMC very soon after rotation. I made sure that I was climbing as rapidly as possible because of the obstacles to the south. I wanted as much altitude as possible. Then, I heard the king air pilot report that he was 'on the missed.' he said 'we can't see a thing.' I was shocked to hear this. I had just lifted off and my initial climb rate was more than 1100 FPM. Now I had a king air, theoretically climbing out of 250 ft AGL right behind me. I recalled from having prepped for the runway 20L approach the previous day that the missed approach procedure called for a right turn. I hoped the king air was turning. I was very, very scared. I maintained runway heading -- stayed where the controllers expected me to be. I waited to hear some instructions from somebody on the radio. I heard 2 partial xmissions from the tower controller. Basically these were incomplete xmissions, something like 'I've got...' or 'there is....' the controller didn't seem to know what to say or do in response to the developing situation. He seemed to be 'locked up.' then there were a few seconds of silence, then xmissions from what sounded like a different person -- 'king air XXXX (I don't remember the number) turn right immediately 330 degrees' (or 340 degrees, or something. I don't remember the exact heading), then 'cherokee, turn left immediately 150 degrees' (or 110 degrees or 140 degrees or something close to that -- again, I don't remember exactly). I started turning before he finished the sentence. I also dropped the nose to level (probably an instinctive 'duck'). Then I heard the sound and felt the vibration. Turboprop engines -- somewhere very close. The sound or vibration faded as quickly as it began. I resumed my climb and completed the turn. I broke through the overcast into the clear. I was handed off to atl approach control and given additional vectors out of the area. I looked around for the king air, but I guess he was more or less directly behind me as I proceeded eastward. I never saw him. The king air made arrangements to proceed to another airport. Another aircraft tried the runway 20L approach and missed. I then was assigned to another frequency and I continued on my way. I don't know how close we got. The event was very frightening. I think everyone had the mind set that the king air was landing. I know I was thinking that way, and I suspect that the controller was as well. I think the spacing between my aircraft and the king air was managed as it might have been if we were in VMC and a landing was assured for the king air. I think we all got into the situation because some things took a little longer than expected. The twin was slow to depart. My takeoff clearance didn't come immediately. And maybe the king air's right turn on the missed approach didn't start immediately. I don't know. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated after returning to his home base, he contacted his cpr chief pilot and briefed him on the incident at pdk. He said the chief pilot contacted the local FSDO who in turn contacted the manager at pdk tower. He said he was given the name of the shift supervisor on duty at the time of the incident and asked to call that person. The shift supervisor told the reporter that she was away from the tower for a short time and was unaware of anything unusual that took place.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A NEAR COLLISION MAY HAVE OCCURRED IN IMC BTWN A PA28 OFF RWY 20L AT PDK AND A KING AIR ON A MISSED APCH FOR THE SAME RWY. THE PA28 PLT SAID HE FELT THE VIBRATION AND SOUND OF TURBO ENGS CLOSE BY.

Narrative: I ARRIVED AT THE ARPT AT AROUND XA15 AND PREFLTED THE AIRPLANE. I CHKED THE WX AGAIN AT AROUND XA30. THE CEILING WAS 400 FT OVCST AND THE VISIBILITY WAS 2 1/4 MI. I COULD SEE THE TOP OF THE CTL TWR CAB FROM THE GND, BUT SMALL WISPS OF FOG WERE OCCASIONALLY MOVING ACROSS THE FIELD. I STARTED UP AROUND XA40 AND GOT MY CLRNC. PDK WAS USING RWY 20L FOR DEPS AND ARRS. I REVIEWED THE DEP MINIMUMS AND PROCS FOR RWY 20L BEFORE BEGINNING MY TAXI AND CONFIRMED ONCE AGAIN THAT I HAD ADEQUATE CLB PERFORMANCE FOR DEP ON THAT RWY, DUE TO THE NOTE ON THE APCH PLATE INDICATING NONSTANDARD TKOF MINIMUMS. I GOT MY TAXI CLRNC TO RWY 20L AND PROCEEDED WITH THE TAXI. I COMPLETED MY RUN-UP AND SWITCHED TO TWR FREQ AS I APCHED THE HOLD LINE. THERE WAS A PISTON TWIN IN FRONT OF ME IN THE RUN-UP AREA. I RPTED READY IN SEQUENCE RWY 20L TO THE TWR. I READ BACK INSTRUCTIONS TO HOLD SHORT. TWR ADVISED THAT A KING AIR WAS 7 MI INBOUND ON THE RWY 20L ILS. I DON'T RECALL IF THE TWR WAS TALKING TO ME OR THE TWIN, I JUST REMEMBER HEARING THE INFO. THE TWIN WAS CLRED ONTO THE RWY AND I ADVANCED TO THE HOLD SHORT LINE. AT THIS TIME, I WAS NOT REALLY PAYING MUCH ATTN TO THE WX OUTSIDE. I CLIPPED THE TERMINAL PROCS BOOK OPEN TO THE RWY 20L ILS PAGE. THERE WAS NO ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE ATIS HAD CHANGED, SO I ASSUMED WE STILL HAD A 400 FT CEILING AND 2 1/4 MI VISIBILITY. THE TWIN WAS CLRED TO TAKE OFF AND I WAS IMMEDIATELY CLRED TO 'POS AND HOLD' ON RWY 20L. I WAITED AT THE HOLD LINE BECAUSE THE TWIN DID NOT TAKE OFF IMMEDIATELY. INSTEAD, HE HESITATED FOR A FEW SECONDS AND THEN BEGAN TO MOVE DOWN THE RWY. I MOVED INTO POS ON THE RWY AS HE MOVED OUT OF THE WAY. RWY 20L HAS ABOUT A 1000 FT DISPLACED THRESHOLD. I WAS IN POS AT THE END AND COULD SEE PRETTY WELL DOWN THE RWY. VISIBILITY ON THE GND WAS GOOD. I WAITED FOR TKOF CLRNC WHILE HOLDING IN POS. I WAS BEGINNING TO WONDER WHERE THE KING AIR WAS AND BEGAN MENTALLY TRYING TO ESTIMATE WHERE HE WOULD BE AT THIS TIME. IT APPEARED THAT THE CTL TWR WAS WORKING THE DEPS (THE TWIN AND ME) AND THE ARRS (THE KING AIR) PRETTY TIGHTLY. AS THE SECONDS TICKED BY, I BECAME CONCERNED. I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE I WOULD BE IN ACTUAL DANGER IF THE KING AIR CAME IN BECAUSE OF THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD, BUT I DIDN'T LIKE BEING ON THE RWY AND NOT KNOWING WHERE HE WAS. I DECIDED TO ASK THE CTLR IF HE WANTED ME TO GET OFF THE RWY, BUT BEFORE I COULD KEY THE MIKE, I WAS GIVEN MY TKOF CLRNC. I WAS ADVISED TO 'MAINTAIN RWY HDG FOR NOW' ALONG WITH THE CLRNC. I IMMEDIATELY STARTED MY TKOF ROLL. I ASSUMED THAT THE KING AIR MUST NOT BE AS CLOSE AS I HAD FEARED, OR THEY WOULDN'T BE CLRING ME TO TAKE OFF. I DO NOT RECALL WHETHER OR NOT THE KING AIR WAS ASKED TO SLOW DOWN AT ANY TIME THAT I WAS ON THE FREQ. I RECALL HEARING SOMEONE BEING ASKED TO SLOW DOWN, BUT I HAD FLOWN 3 LEGS DURING THE PREVIOUS 2 DAYS, AND I MAY NOW BE RECALLING A XMISSION FROM ANOTHER DEP. I'M NOT SURE. I ROTATED AND BEGAN MY CLB. I ENTERED IMC VERY SOON AFTER ROTATION. I MADE SURE THAT I WAS CLBING AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE OBSTACLES TO THE S. I WANTED AS MUCH ALT AS POSSIBLE. THEN, I HEARD THE KING AIR PLT RPT THAT HE WAS 'ON THE MISSED.' HE SAID 'WE CAN'T SEE A THING.' I WAS SHOCKED TO HEAR THIS. I HAD JUST LIFTED OFF AND MY INITIAL CLB RATE WAS MORE THAN 1100 FPM. NOW I HAD A KING AIR, THEORETICALLY CLBING OUT OF 250 FT AGL RIGHT BEHIND ME. I RECALLED FROM HAVING PREPPED FOR THE RWY 20L APCH THE PREVIOUS DAY THAT THE MISSED APCH PROC CALLED FOR A R TURN. I HOPED THE KING AIR WAS TURNING. I WAS VERY, VERY SCARED. I MAINTAINED RWY HDG -- STAYED WHERE THE CTLRS EXPECTED ME TO BE. I WAITED TO HEAR SOME INSTRUCTIONS FROM SOMEBODY ON THE RADIO. I HEARD 2 PARTIAL XMISSIONS FROM THE TWR CTLR. BASICALLY THESE WERE INCOMPLETE XMISSIONS, SOMETHING LIKE 'I'VE GOT...' OR 'THERE IS....' THE CTLR DIDN'T SEEM TO KNOW WHAT TO SAY OR DO IN RESPONSE TO THE DEVELOPING SIT. HE SEEMED TO BE 'LOCKED UP.' THEN THERE WERE A FEW SECONDS OF SILENCE, THEN XMISSIONS FROM WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A DIFFERENT PERSON -- 'KING AIR XXXX (I DON'T REMEMBER THE NUMBER) TURN R IMMEDIATELY 330 DEGS' (OR 340 DEGS, OR SOMETHING. I DON'T REMEMBER THE EXACT HDG), THEN 'CHEROKEE, TURN L IMMEDIATELY 150 DEGS' (OR 110 DEGS OR 140 DEGS OR SOMETHING CLOSE TO THAT -- AGAIN, I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY). I STARTED TURNING BEFORE HE FINISHED THE SENTENCE. I ALSO DROPPED THE NOSE TO LEVEL (PROBABLY AN INSTINCTIVE 'DUCK'). THEN I HEARD THE SOUND AND FELT THE VIBRATION. TURBOPROP ENGS -- SOMEWHERE VERY CLOSE. THE SOUND OR VIBRATION FADED AS QUICKLY AS IT BEGAN. I RESUMED MY CLB AND COMPLETED THE TURN. I BROKE THROUGH THE OVCST INTO THE CLR. I WAS HANDED OFF TO ATL APCH CTL AND GIVEN ADDITIONAL VECTORS OUT OF THE AREA. I LOOKED AROUND FOR THE KING AIR, BUT I GUESS HE WAS MORE OR LESS DIRECTLY BEHIND ME AS I PROCEEDED EASTWARD. I NEVER SAW HIM. THE KING AIR MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO PROCEED TO ANOTHER ARPT. ANOTHER ACFT TRIED THE RWY 20L APCH AND MISSED. I THEN WAS ASSIGNED TO ANOTHER FREQ AND I CONTINUED ON MY WAY. I DON'T KNOW HOW CLOSE WE GOT. THE EVENT WAS VERY FRIGHTENING. I THINK EVERYONE HAD THE MIND SET THAT THE KING AIR WAS LNDG. I KNOW I WAS THINKING THAT WAY, AND I SUSPECT THAT THE CTLR WAS AS WELL. I THINK THE SPACING BTWN MY ACFT AND THE KING AIR WAS MANAGED AS IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IF WE WERE IN VMC AND A LNDG WAS ASSURED FOR THE KING AIR. I THINK WE ALL GOT INTO THE SIT BECAUSE SOME THINGS TOOK A LITTLE LONGER THAN EXPECTED. THE TWIN WAS SLOW TO DEPART. MY TKOF CLRNC DIDN'T COME IMMEDIATELY. AND MAYBE THE KING AIR'S R TURN ON THE MISSED APCH DIDN'T START IMMEDIATELY. I DON'T KNOW. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED AFTER RETURNING TO HIS HOME BASE, HE CONTACTED HIS CPR CHIEF PLT AND BRIEFED HIM ON THE INCIDENT AT PDK. HE SAID THE CHIEF PLT CONTACTED THE LCL FSDO WHO IN TURN CONTACTED THE MGR AT PDK TWR. HE SAID HE WAS GIVEN THE NAME OF THE SHIFT SUPVR ON DUTY AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT AND ASKED TO CALL THAT PERSON. THE SHIFT SUPVR TOLD THE RPTR THAT SHE WAS AWAY FROM THE TWR FOR A SHORT TIME AND WAS UNAWARE OF ANYTHING UNUSUAL THAT TOOK PLACE.

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.