Cockpit Chronicles: Nearly a near midair collision {Gadling}

Nov 13th 2010 10:17PM I live very close to Vandenberg and I see them firing off missles often enough. They typically head towards Hawaii versus more north....San Fran area. When these things are out of visible range they look very much like contrails, however the altitude adjustments during the first 20 seconds of flight can play tricks on the eyes. Having done my primary flight training around here this was topic for discussion with my former CFI.

As for Kent's story......That's aweful. A few more seconds and it's all over. That is totally unacceptable. I have never had much faith in the fish finders but it obviously saved some lives. How an aircraft being flown by top tier professionals can make a mistake like this is unreal. My money is on Cactus or Sowest. Glad you executed Kent....blue skies