...And Avoid

Seriously? That’s all we get? Our only takeaway is to watch for other traffic? I want more.

Frank Bowlin

Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 08:27 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A mid-air collision at a busy, nontowered airport between a Cessna 340 and a Cessna 152 resulted in three fatalities, with the NTSB attributing the cause to the 340 pilot's failure to see and avoid, potentially exacerbated by its high approach speed.
The author criticizes the NTSB report as inadequate for only stating the obvious, arguing it overlooked critical contributing factors like the 340's excessive speed on final, lack of specific communication, or the 152's decision to continue in the pattern.
The incident underscores the fundamental importance of the "see and avoid" principle, clear communication, and situational awareness at uncontrolled airports, as minor procedural changes by either pilot could have prevented the accident.

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Watsonville, California, has a nice airport just inland from California’s Monterey Bay. It’s a busy, nontowered (uncontrolled?) airport with extensive flight training, transient, and corporate traffic. Years ago I based my Cessna 340 there.

Watsonville (KWVI) has two runways. The main runway is 2/20 as the wind is almost always off Monterey Bay, favoring Runway 20. The crosswind runway, 9/27, sees less use.