Narrative:

While on a base leg almost to turn final, I glanced to the right and saw the small aircraft in our 2:30 to 3:00 position at our altitude. I grabbed the controls and banked hard left and pitched up. My first officer saw the aircraft flash past us just aft of the tail. When small aircraft Y appeared on the left side of the aircraft, he was now below us but still basically wings level. A contributing factor in the incident was a door seal problem causing us to return to land. I had been off frequency during part of the downwind leg notifying company that we were returning to the gate. I was also primarily head down during late downwind, early base, while I ran the descent approach before landing checklists. Most of these checklists would normally have been completed prior to entering the terminal area. When I called the tower chief on the ground he said small aircraft Y had a visual on us and had been cleared for a visual approach behind us. Neither my first officer nor I had heard any of the conversation between the tower and small aircraft Y.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SMA ON VISUAL APCH FLEW TOO CLOSE TO ACR LTT RESULTING IN NMAC.

Narrative: WHILE ON A BASE LEG ALMOST TO TURN FINAL, I GLANCED TO THE RIGHT AND SAW THE SMA IN OUR 2:30 TO 3:00 POS AT OUR ALT. I GRABBED THE CONTROLS AND BANKED HARD LEFT AND PITCHED UP. MY F/O SAW THE ACFT FLASH PAST US JUST AFT OF THE TAIL. WHEN SMA Y APPEARED ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ACFT, HE WAS NOW BELOW US BUT STILL BASICALLY WINGS LEVEL. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN THE INCIDENT WAS A DOOR SEAL PROB CAUSING US TO RETURN TO LAND. I HAD BEEN OFF FREQ DURING PART OF THE DOWNWIND LEG NOTIFYING COMPANY THAT WE WERE RETURNING TO THE GATE. I WAS ALSO PRIMARILY HEAD DOWN DURING LATE DOWNWIND, EARLY BASE, WHILE I RAN THE DSCNT APCH BEFORE LNDG CHKLISTS. MOST OF THESE CHKLISTS WOULD NORMALLY HAVE BEEN COMPLETED PRIOR TO ENTERING THE TERMINAL AREA. WHEN I CALLED THE TWR CHIEF ON THE GND HE SAID SMA Y HAD A VISUAL ON US AND HAD BEEN CLRED FOR A VISUAL APCH BEHIND US. NEITHER MY F/O NOR I HAD HEARD ANY OF THE CONVERSATION BTWN THE TWR AND SMA Y.

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.