Okay, let's discuss the midair collision near San Luis Obispo. First of all, the Wings West aircraft departed from San Luis Obispo Airport VFR, and immediately called Los Angeles Center for radar services and to obtain their IFR clearance. This is standard operating practice. Every pilot appreciates the extra set of eyes behind the radar screen helping to point out conflicting traffic. The pilot likes to be in contact with the radar controller as soon as possible because of this valuable assistance we can provide. When the pilot made contact with L A Center, the controller advised the pilot to squawk a discreet transponder code. As soon as the controller noticed the code change from the 1-2-0-0 code (represented by the "V") to the one just assigned, the controller advised the flight that it was in "radar contact," and to "say altitude." This is always done to verify that what the pilot sees on the altimeter in the aircraft agrees with what the controller sees on the radar scope. That makes two times the controller had to be looking directly at the target. It was 23 seconds after radar contact was established that the airplanes collided head-on. How could the controller possibly not see the VFR target?
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