Narrative:

It was late afternoon. With the smog and the sun low on the horizon, visibility was poor. I was northbound toward lgb, descending approximately 200-300 FPM. Over the harbor (5 mi south of lgb) I was passing through about 2700' when something caught my eye at my 1 O'clock position, low. There was an small aircraft wbound and climbing. He passed only a couple of hundred ft below me. I halted my descent. I would have been in the same relative position as the sun with respect to him. Since he took no obvious evasive action, I doubt that he even saw me. I had already called lgb tower less than a minute before this occurred. I received no advisory from them. Low wing aircraft descending. High wing aircraft climbing. Marginal visibility. High traffic density. I'm at a loss as to how to prevent this one. Fortunately see and avoid was adequate.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SMA ARRIVING LGB HAS NMAC WITH ANOTHER SMA DEPARTING.

Narrative: IT WAS LATE AFTERNOON. WITH THE SMOG AND THE SUN LOW ON THE HORIZON, VIS WAS POOR. I WAS NBOUND TOWARD LGB, DSNDING APPROX 200-300 FPM. OVER THE HARBOR (5 MI S OF LGB) I WAS PASSING THROUGH ABOUT 2700' WHEN SOMETHING CAUGHT MY EYE AT MY 1 O'CLOCK POS, LOW. THERE WAS AN SMA WBOUND AND CLBING. HE PASSED ONLY A COUPLE OF HUNDRED FT BELOW ME. I HALTED MY DSCNT. I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE SAME RELATIVE POS AS THE SUN WITH RESPECT TO HIM. SINCE HE TOOK NO OBVIOUS EVASIVE ACTION, I DOUBT THAT HE EVEN SAW ME. I HAD ALREADY CALLED LGB TWR LESS THAN A MINUTE BEFORE THIS OCCURRED. I RECEIVED NO ADVISORY FROM THEM. LOW WING ACFT DSNDING. HIGH WING ACFT CLBING. MARGINAL VIS. HIGH TFC DENSITY. I'M AT A LOSS AS TO HOW TO PREVENT THIS ONE. FORTUNATELY SEE AND AVOID WAS ADEQUATE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 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.