C182 pilot on IFR flight plan; reports near midair collision with opposite direction C210 at 5;000 f...

Narrative:

On IFR flight plan from emt; weather was clear with pretty much unrestricted visibility and marine layer just off southern california coast. Just received third vector after takeoff to join V186 westbound and climb to 5;000 (may have been 6;000). Was also instructed to change comm to next sector. I had to work with the HSI some as it was showing incorrect information; I had to rely on the digital readouts instead. While adjusting radios and flying to join the airway I looked up and noticed a cessna 210 at my 12:00 going very quickly past my left side and slightly above my altitude. The plane was so close I could see its gray color and red or brown trim; and white wings. Just as I saw the plane and it passed; ATC issued a traffic alert. I was still on the old frequency; so thanks to the controller for keeping an eye out. On the other hand; I'm wondering about the separation and why an alert was not issued sooner. For my part; I suppose you can never look outside the plane too much. Will now look into a.) reviewing my scanning technique; b.) maintain an active outside the plan perspective; especially when flying IFR in cavu conditions; c.) investing in a pcas device.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C182 pilot on IFR flight plan; reports NMAC with opposite direction C210 at 5;000 FT. Traffic call from ATC and NMAC occur simultaneously.

Narrative: On IFR flight plan from EMT; weather was clear with pretty much unrestricted visibility and marine layer just off southern California coast. Just received third vector after takeoff to join V186 westbound and climb to 5;000 (may have been 6;000). Was also instructed to change comm to next sector. I had to work with the HSI some as it was showing incorrect information; I had to rely on the digital readouts instead. While adjusting radios and flying to join the airway I looked up and noticed a Cessna 210 at my 12:00 going very quickly past my left side and slightly above my altitude. The plane was so close I could see its gray color and red or brown trim; and white wings. Just as I saw the plane and it passed; ATC issued a traffic alert. I was still on the old frequency; so thanks to the Controller for keeping an eye out. On the other hand; I'm wondering about the separation and why an alert was not issued sooner. For my part; I suppose you can never look outside the plane too much. Will now look into a.) reviewing my scanning technique; b.) maintain an active outside the plan perspective; especially when flying IFR in CAVU conditions; c.) investing in a PCAS device.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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	908881
Time
Date	201009
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	EMT.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Cessna 210 Centurion / Turbo Centurion 210C 210D
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Airway V186
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 2.9 Flight Crew Total 642 Flight Crew Type 200
Events
Anomaly	Conflict NMAC
Miss Distance	Horizontal 300 Vertical 300

C182 pilot on IFR flight plan; reports near midair collision with opposite direction C210 at 5;000 ft. Traffic call from ATC and near midair collision occur simultaneously.