http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X21903&key=1
NTSB Identification: ATL00FA091A
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, September 11, 2000 in FT. PIERCE, FL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 12/4/2001
Aircraft: Piper PA-28-161, registration: N9208N
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
A Cherokee was in the traffic pattern executing touch and go landing, and the Aztec was inbound to the airport. The Cherokee and the Aztec collided in-flight in controlled airspace, while under the control of the local controller. There was a shift change at the control tower a few minutes prior to the midair collision. The relieving local controller declined a formal briefing of the location of traffic because he was busy.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
Failure of local controller to provide adequate spacing between two airplanes that resulted in a midair collision. Contributing Factors: the local controller declined receiving a formal brief before relieving the controller on duty. The controller who was relieved failed to ensure proper briefing of local traffic.
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X21903&key=2
NTSB Identification: ATL00FA091B
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, September 11, 2000 in FT. PIERCE, FL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 12/4/2001
Aircraft: Piper PA-23-250, registration: N54325
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
A Cherokee was in the traffic pattern executing touch and go landing, and the Aztec was inbound to the airport. The Cherokee and the Aztec collided in-flight in controlled airspace, while under the control of the local controller. There was a shift change at the control tower a few minutes prior to the midair collision. The relieving local controller declined a formal briefing of the location of traffic because he was busy. .
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
Failure of local controller to provide adequate spacing between two airplanes that resulted in a midair collision. Contributing Factors: the local controller declined receiving a formal brief before relieving the controller on duty. The controller who was relieved failed to ensure proper briefing of local traffic.
15 months isan awful long time to come up with their approval. I wonder why that was.
Failure of local controller to provide adequate spacing between two airplanes that resulted in a midair collision.
I might add that the report indicates that the weather was clear and VFR, therefore, both pilots had a duty to "see and be seen". I lost a Mooney M-20 with my step-dad and his friend aboard, a WWII B-25 pilot, in a midair collision with a Piper PA-28 over the California Mojave Desert in the early eighties. The skies were clear. The NTSB's conclusion was that the pilot who hit the Mooney was at the wrong altitude for the direction of flight and inexperienced (less than 500hrs). FWIW, I don't see anything in this report other than human error and the coincidence that one pilot was an Arab and the the incident happened on 9-11-2000. More coincidental than providential.