This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.
Landing Runway 17 with other aircraft in traffic pattern also using 17.
Made standard traffic pattern radio transmissions and heard other aircraft making same type transmissions.
As I touched down saw an ultralight landing on the opposite end of the runway. Aircraft was no transponder no radio and was landing against all others in traffic pattern.
Brought my aircraft to slow speed and taxied off to right side of runway.
Ultralight lifted off and passed about 50 feet to our left and 50 feet above us.
Unfortunately, while legal, no radio no transponder aircraft allows this type of potential accidents.
Primary Problem: Human Factors
ACN: 1933931
Powered parachutes, ultralights and Cirrus’ all gave the same thing in common. The aircraft are too advanced for the passenger at the controls.
In my experience many UL pilots do not think they need to have instruction or pay attention to pattern requirements. Not sure how to address that.
I often fly into the wind when there are 3 to 5 mph winds, yet hear crying and moaning from the flight school airplanes on the radio because of the ‘calm wind runway’. Tailwheel airplanes and ultra lights are particularly affected by wind and many mainly nosewheel flight schools use a downwind operation until there is a much higher wind than tailwheel and ultralight airplanes may prefer, or be operationally safe.
This is just to say it might have been the reason why this ultralight pilot was going the other way… why he didn’t see the other traffic is another matter and eyesight and radios can be an issue. I listen more than talk, because there are so many calls going on one usually knows the story without inserting anything to it, but useful calls are helpful.
There is no real reason to require a radio at uncontrolled fields, it just makes certain people feel better…
Are you kidding? No reason to have a radio? I fly routinely at uncontrolled fields and am convinced it is even more important than at a controlled field since ATC is not in control. Almost got hit by a biplane once when the idiot cut underneath me on final with, of course, no radio.
I believe that in the current time of cheap handheld radios, no aircraft should be allowed to fly NORDO. Small handhelt ADD-B out technology exists as well and is currently used mostly for drones, so that should not be a big deal to require either.
In 2022 there were 3 high profile fatal mid-air collisions, not to mention the “Deadliest Accident in Aviation History” in 1977 at Tenerife. All aircraft involved had working radios!
ASRS reports are only one side of the story so we don’t know if the Ultralight had a radio and was on the wrong frequency, inoperative, etc. Also we don’t know why they were landing opposite traffic…winds?
Traffic patterns were designed before aircraft radios were as common as today. Not everyone follows the rules and prescribed patterns, so the take away is to scan everywhere for traffic in the pattern, especially where you don’t expect other aircraft to be.
If you are viewing the world through a glass belly button, no electronic device is going to help you.
When flying to an uncontrolled field, if winds are equivocal and I can’t tell by listening, as one reply above smartly advises, I always ask on the common frequency which runway is active. You don’t always get an answer. But many times you do, and then you verify with your own eyes.
Good ultralight instructors will stress good pattern etiquette and professionalism to their students. Ultralight pilots for the most part would like to fly responsibly. There are far too many runway stories lately to single them out but it is a frightening event. By the way, I’m not an U/L pilot but it’s on my bucket list.
The operative words here are ‘ultra light.’ Those refer to the mind of that pilot.