Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 16; Flight Crew Total 2300; Flight Crew Type 1600
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Ground Conflict; Less Severe
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors; Procedure
I was cleared by Ground Controller to reposition aircraft from tie down to maintenance via taxiways Alpha and Bravo; night conditions. My aircraft is equipped with HID wingtips; HID Taxi Lamps; plus LED Nav Lamps which were all in use at the time of the incident. Strobe lights and HID Landing lights while available were turned off for ground operations. While en route on Bravo; an unlit Piper Cherokee cut in front of my aircraft with a hard left turn from the Bravo-3 Intersection. I saw the Piper just as he appeared at the end of the Golf Taxiway/Bravo-3 Intersection; applied hard brakes; and stopped my aircraft while the Piper proceeded ahead. Estimated miss distance was 40 FT; maybe a bit less. The Piper was traveling at 'a good clip' during the turn from Golf to Bravo and I believe he had to skip the inside wheel in the turn due to the speed he was carrying. His lack of taxi or position lights was a factor in not seeing him earlier. Because of the high visibility profile of my aircraft when illuminated as described; I have to believe the Piper operator to have not been actively searching for conflicting taxi traffic. His ground operation at night without the benefit of navigation or taxi lights rendered him almost invisible until late. The relatively high speed he was carrying made our closure rates faster than would normally be expected. I do believe the Piper did have a proper clearance to taxi on the route. Immediately after coming to a stop to avoid the Piper; I keyed the mic on Ground Control to say that the Piper had just cut in front. The Controller replied that it was his (the Controller's) mistake. Even so; despite a clearance; it's every pilot's duty to ensure to the best of their ability that he/she is not creating a conflict with other traffic; to illuminate their aircraft when operating during dark hours; and to control their taxi speed so as to allow room and opportunity for all parties to avoid an accident should an unintentional conflict be created through a taxi clearance error. This event seems to prove the adage that the flight isn't over until the airplane is in the chocks.
C182 pilot experiences a near ground collision with a PA28 entering the taxiway from the left during darkness. The PA28 was unlighted but apparently operating in accordance with Ground Control instructions.