Your data from the academy on the Cessna is inaccurate. There were two Chinese students onboard, one in the left seat pilot flying 'under the hood', the other in the right seat non-pilot flying on lookout duty. During the uncontrolled descent to the ground (post-collision) the left seat student was thrown from the aircraft and unsurprisingly received fatal injuries. Amazingly, bearing in mind a large section of the Cessna's starboard wing remained embedded in the Warrior's engine cowling, the other student survived the impact. The Cessna students had left marana to head back to Glendale but took the decision to divert to Coolidge for some unauthorised circuits. After departing Coolidge they flew straight towards the holding stack for Casa Grande, where they paid a terrible price for their earlier diversion. Fate was indeed the hunter!
I remember the airspace around this area to be very busy - Luftwaffe, Lufthansa, Oxford, Pan Am and all the other local FTOs. Throw into that mix the world's largest F16 training fleet - yes, these guys are learning to fly to fly the F16, not so Top Gun now are you Mr PA161? Factors such as non-reporting of position, reporting of position in a completely unintelligible manner or vague manner ("PanAm, two fowsan feet, souf pwactice awea"), a cloud-free sky, made for a situation that could give you a closer shave than Gillette.
I always felt far more comfortable there flying solo than flying 'under the hood'. At least I knew my eyes would be scanning the whole sky regularly, as opposed to having an instructor next to me who I was VERY aware had the dilemma of keeping a safety lookout whilst trying to teach instrument flying to an adequate standard and who may be relying on the 'Big Sky' theory a bit too much for my liking. Despite the many negative points to the blinds used on the Seneca, I felt a whole lot more comfortable flying under them back in the UK, under the watchful eye of a radar controller in controlled airspace. For anyone flying in the Arizona training grounds, remember that it still is Injun territory, only the next arrow hurtling at you at high speed from your 5 o'clock might just be made by Piper. Learn all you can about the operating procedures for the airspace and for all the airports in the area. Always ensure you have a large bottle of water onboard, it may take some time to find you should you have to force land. But most importantly, get the eyes and neck working.
Arizona Flight Training Workgroup | Dedicated to improving pilot judgement and decision-making to reduce accidents, incidents and pilot deviations in Arizona.
Phoenix-Area Practice Areas
http://www.luke.af.mil/shared/media/...070122-076.jpg
Luke Air Force Base - Midair Collision Avoidance
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009...f/E9-30938.pdf
VC10 Rib22
ps Not a dig at any PanAm student's lack of English, their English was always better than my Chinese. Injun term not meant to offend either.