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Old October 4th 17, 03:33 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Sean Fidler
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Default Glider near miss with Airliner (emergency climb) near Chicago yesterday?

It’s utter fantasy to think that it is possible, or even practical, for major Bravo airspace ATC to keep all of their large commercial traffic only inside or above Bravo airspace. The Bravo airspace would need to be much larger. Watch FlightAware for just 5 minutes someday. Commercial traffic is not staying above or inside the Bravo or Charlie (not even close) and hasn’t been happening for 30 years, I suspect. We need to focus on reality and behaving as grown-ups, not fantasies or tales of the “little guys plight.” When these commercial airports get stacked up, which is increasingly often, the risk of collision with dark traffic (no transponder, no ADS-B) is unacceptably high. But the same high risk occurs even at small regional airports in not busy periods for a variety of reasons. I see airliners going into/out of Lansing, Grand Rapids and Flint (Michigan) when flying out of very rural Ionia all the time. I find this extremely concerning (perhaps more of a safety risk that Bravo airspace). If nothing changes, eventually (today, next year...) the glider/airliner accident will happen. The damage from that disaster will be far more costly for the sport of gliding then the cost of the complaints from childish “I’ll hold my breathe before buying a transponder” types who refuse to admit the safety risk. A safety risk primarily caused by the fact that the vast majority of US sailplanes are carrying zero safety equipment (ADS-B or Transponder) despite flying cross country, near major airspace or at high altitude. I vote for improving safety for everyone involved (gliders, private traffic, commercial traffic, ATC, FAA, airline passengers) and for being a sport led by honest, responsible grown-ups.