"Ramapriya" wrote in message
oups.com...
Don Hammer wrote:
On 1 Jan 2005 15:17:49 -0800, "george" wrotD:

Also, since TCAS has been mandated, there has been only one mid-air
with equipped aircraft and it was because one crew ignored the
warning. (UPS and Aeroflot in Switzerland)

????? You mean the TCAS only gives a warning, with the pilots having a
say on whether or not to take action?? I was under the impression that
the TCAS sytems talk to each other and take automatic action to avoid a
collision!!

To leave it to the pilots doesn't appear to be too much of an
advantage, with a relative speed of two planes being about 1000 mph
towards each other. Also, given the small reaction time, there's also a
chance, howsoever small, that the pilots could both take action that'll
precipitate a collision instead of avoiding one; both diving, for
example.

If it isn't automatic, I think the TCAS should be. For sure.
Ramapriya

TCAS alerts and instructions are what the pilot is supposed to follow. If
ATC and the TCAS conflict then the pilot is required to follow TCAS.

In the case over Germany the Russian obeyed ATC when they should have
followed the TCAS. The DHL plane obeyed TCAS but still ended up wrecked
because the Russian plane had not taken the action it was supposed to
follow.

As with all accidents measures taken earlier could have eliminated the need
for conflict resolution. There was only one controller on duty that night
covering a couple of sectors and he missed the problem as it was building
up. when he tried to raise the Russian plane he had difficulty and so it all
went on.

In the end the controller was murdered by, its claimed, avenging parents of
the 86 kids killed on the Russian plane.

Every regulation brought in is written in someone's blood.