"Collision alert! Collision alert! Collision alert!"

Needless to say, I doubled my scan to see if the voice on the radio was
talking to me. I didn't see anything but continue to scan until I heard
more. I had never heard this before, so I was curious as to the situation
in which some poor pilot had found himself.

Having spent most of my brief flying life in '80K, I was relieved to hear
the voice come back with, "'95X, collision alert! NORDOR traffic at 11 to
12 'o clock, traveling west bound, at 3600 feet! You have traffic at
your 11 to 12 'o clock and we do not have radio contact!" It only took
some fraction of a second to recall that I was, in fact, in '95X; a plane
I had only flown three times before. It was also at this time I finally
spotted the other plane. Sure enough, he's at my altitude and we were
converging to a single point in space; me south bound and him west bound.

The flight had started some 20 minutes or so earlier from KDTO. This
flight was my madian flight into class bravo as a private pilot. My wife
and youngest son were both on board. Both of which are fairly new to
flying in spam cans. Needless to say I carried a little trepidation
flying into class bravo, knowing full well high expectations follow such a
privilege. The trepidation came from both the lack of experience on my
part but also the desire to not have my family experience any loss of
confidence in their pilot; in the event I stumble handling the demands of
class bravo.

I promptly jumped on the assigned heading and altitude given to me by
Dallas Departure. I was flying along at 3500 feet on a heading of 170.
Several traffic advisories had been given and the usual "contact" or "no
joy" banter went back and forth. I was content and continued to stay on
heading, hold my altitude, and work the radios. I was happy and so were
my passengers.

"Collision alert! Collision alert! Collision alert!"

Having finally spotted the aircraft and realizing I was not flying '80K,
whos callsign had become second nature to me, I replied back on the radio.
We still had some time to react without acting rashly. After all, I
didn't want to upset the "cargo".

"95X, I have contact." Not wanting to compound the situation in the event
other traffic was near I asked if they wanted me to climb or descend.
"Your prerogative." I started to climb with full throttle and even
traded some airspeed for altitude. "95X, climbing to 4500", was my reply.
Had I to do it over again, I would would have descended. As I climed, the
nose obscured the view of the other aircraft. Not wanting to worsen
things with confusing signals (climbing...no wait...descending), I
decided to stick with my climb.

As I leveled off, it became clear the other aircraft had decided to climb
too. Needless to say, when I lowered the nose, I wasn't pleased to see
the other aircraft had followed me up to 4500 feet. In fact, now, we were
really getting close and I was starting to get a little concerned. We
were still converging and the other aircraft was noticeably larger now.
Uncomfortably larger now.

This time, I did not bother with the radio. I decided I would alter my
course to pass behind the other aircraft. Simple solution. Only, as soon
as I finished rolling into my new course, the other aircraft started to
turn toward us. I mean straight, head-on, same altitude, toward us! Now,
once again, I was very surprised. Without delay, I altered course once
again. This time, altering course to the right via a 20-25 degree bank.
I figured, if need be, I still had time to sharpen the bank angle.
Surely this guy has seen us and he'll do the same.

At this point, we're less than a mile away and he's still flying head on.
Just as I start to push forward to dive and begin a steep turn, the other
plane finally begins his turn to his right. I shallow my turn just
slightly so I can maintain visual contact as long as possible. I'd
estimate at our closest point, we were less than half mile away. Once I
lost sight of him behind me, I resumed my assigned course. "95X,
descending to 3500. Can you confirm the NORDO's position? He's flying very
erratic and I no longer have visual."

"95X, we have him at your six. He is following you to 3500." Needless to
say, I'm now wondering if this guy is trying to commit suicide with an air
to air. Almost a full minute later (well, I'm sure it wasn't...but
seemed like...) and glued to the radio, "95X, the plane has resume his
course to the west. He is no longer on your six."

The rest of the flight went like clock work. The hand-offs to Waco
Approach, Houston Approach, and finally KDWH were both painless and
professional by all parties involved. Even the landing went well.
Unfortunately, because of the bank angles, and angles of aircraft in the
turns, we never were able to get the tail number of the idiot flying
NORDO, in class bravo.

I can't help but wonder if they will bother to try to track the idiot down
and hold him accountable.


Greg