TCAS RAs

Sometimes it's possible to understand what was meant even if the exact wording is technically incorrect.

Consider the use of "annual" vs "annual inspection".
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Wasn't there a midair in...USSR/Russia years ago when the pilot ignored the RA?
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That was in 2002 and was between a DHL 757 and a Russian Tu154. The crash occurred in southern Germany. TCAS told DHL to descend at the same time the controller was telling the 154 to descend. The Tupolevs TCAS instructed a climb but the crew elected to follow the controller's instructions.

There have been updates to the software since then that could have possibly still avoided the accident.
 
Velocity173 said:
I saw the aircraft turn right and went behind our tail 300 ft above us and 1/2 mile. The pilot replied that he had to respond to an RA because he didn't have us in sight.
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RAs are vertical commands only, not left/right commands, as I understand it. The pilots were not supposed to avoid laterally unless they had the intruder in sight.

--Carlos V.
 
Unbeliever said:
RAs are vertical commands only, not left/right commands, as I understand it. The pilots were not supposed to avoid laterally unless they had the intruder in sight.

--Carlos V.
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He didn't do any climb that I could see. I saw him descend out of 3,000 converging and last I saw he was in a slight right turn to avoid and leveled off at 2,800.
 
I just wanted to throw in my two cents. TCAS is a great tool, but there are flaws. I've seen a Northwest DC-9's second transponder spark to life and issue an aggressive RA on itself. I've also seen aircraft with one another in sight landing on close parallels respond to RA's on each other.

It could be toned down a bit (visual for example), but it makes us skittish to run pairs to close runways.
 
The problem with having a visual and not responding, is you may not have the "correct" visual. In congested airspace you could be looking at the wrong airplane who is close enough to get your attention, but still has proper seperation.
 
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