DA40 Diamond Star
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Total 960
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
Conflict NMAC; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Procedure; Human Factors; Weather
Smokey day; still decent horizontal visibility but milky white sky. We were on flight following flying east and saw another traffic (not with flight following) on traffic system flying parallel to us on our left; also eastbound. We wanted to turn north; so we decided to make a right 270 degrees to the north in order to pass well behind that traffic. But just as we finished the turn; we realized traffic had turned right and was coming towards us. Out of the haze there appeared to be a Mooney like aircraft. It's bank; color; and convergence angle blended perfectly with the white haze. Even though traffic system said they were 500 feet above; it looked closer than that so I began a rapid descent and was soon clear of conflict. ZZZ was busy and didn't give the traffic alert until just before I saw them out of the haze. Conclusion: Be very careful of traffic during wildfire smoke; especially white aircraft on converging course; expect the unexpected when it comes to movement of other traffic; don't rely on ATC advisories.
Instructor Pilot reported taking evasive action to avoid an aircraft that was obscured by weather.