I was working outside near Schaumburg, IL airport. Its under O'hare Class B airspace, so the ceilings are low. I see a Cessna 172/182 being overtaken by a Pilatus PC12. The Cessna is low and the Pilatus is high. Not good as the Pilatus is low wing and the Cessna is high wing. This over take couldn't have been more that 10kts. Plenty of time for the two to connect. The Pitatus passed , slowly, over the Cessna by less that 30 feet.
They weren't much farther apart than in this pic. 
damn... I imagine the Pilatus didn't see the Cessna? It seems the Cessna had a -very- good view of the Piltus
the pilots where not using radio right or the tower failed on the ball.
mad_machine wrote: damn... I imagine the Pilatus didn't see the Cessna? It seems the Cessna had a -very- good view of the Piltus
If they weren't on exactly the same path, yes. The nose of the PC-12 completely blocked the forward, downward view as it slowly overtook the lower Cessna. As for the Cessna, you usually don't look directly backward in a plane. (Combat, not withstanding.)That's a scene you never want to see.
ckosacranoid wrote: the pilots where not using radio right or the tower failed on the ball.
most small municipal airports do not have a tower
122.95 UNICOM.
Well, if they where under O'hare's airspace, it is very likely they where on their radar, and since they both should have their transponders on it also likely someone in O'hare's radar room was seeing an alert (and freaking out). But, if they are in the class E under the Class C, it's likely they were on Unicom or another airports tower frequency, so not much they could do.
I imagine they could broadcast on Unicom, but try to describe who they are talking to (since they don't know the planes) could take a while.
I suspect there was a common pathway they were both following. E.g. A line between two airports, the approach to an airport, or a mountain pass. Those sort of collisions are not unheard at an uncontrolled airports approach.
Appleseed wrote:mad_machine wrote: damn... I imagine the Pilatus didn't see the Cessna? It seems the Cessna had a -very- good view of the PiltusIf they weren't on exactly the same path, yes. The nose of the PC-12 completely blocked the forward, downward view as it slowly overtook the lower Cessna. As for the Cessna, you usually don't look directly backward in a plane. (Combat, not withstanding.)That's a scene you never want to see.
Which is precisely why I was taught at around age 12 or 13 to do a quick side-slip on short at 2 miles and one mile.
Because I was inverted
Looks like two (2) pilots who were oblivious to their surroundings. 
Maybe they were both texting.
The top aircraft looks like a Piper Warrior or something in that family.
And this is why flying cars will never truly exist for the average joe.
I was going to come in here and say that it probably wasn't as close as it looked from your perspective, but instead I'm just going to agree with the "HOLY CRAP" sentiment.
[edit] Just realized that picture is not from your event.
pilots should have been aware/in communication with each other - so hopefully no surprises. A few years ago we had a local radio personality crash into another plane - low wing vs high wing where folks had not reported positions accurately and an air traffic controller didn't maintain separation. The radio guy crashed into our hospital. Made for an interesting day.
I had no clue that Schaumburg has an airport.
I've done a few runs from sylvania to schaumburg for dinner with our flight club
I was flying a King Air 200 into the Pontiac Michigan airport (KPTK). There are parallel runways there. I was on 1/2 mile final to 27 left when a Cessna 172 turned left base leg for 27 right, crossing 200-300 yards in front of me. He was instructed to turn behind me. I added a little power and crossed over him by 50 feet or so. Had I not done that we would have hit. The tower thanked us for our avoiding the 172. The 172 pilot got a reaming and a phone number to call for further reaming.
I fly out of a small uncontrolled county airport, however we get some bigass jets during track season. (5B2) I don't care what you're flying or how big or small it is, tell people what you're doing!!
Flying at Lake Placid amongst a bunch of low time local pilots, I see the need for communication. I've seen a Bonanza do six go arounds because someone was within 1/4 mile of him!
You've seen knuckleheads in cars?
Some of these folk fly..... 
Just remember kids: in G airspace, you don't have to make ANY radio calls. None. There are thousands of vintage and classics, that never had them from day one, still flying.
I've seen enough formation flying to know what close is. It was close.
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