Scared of mid-airs

I sure as hell hope nobody who thinks nineteen seconds is too short
a time to find and recognize a threat and then take appropriate action is driving on my street or flying in my sky (but of course they are).

There's way too many passengers with pilot certificates sitting in the front seats these days. How people scan and how they should scan are often two different things. Flying an aircraft is work, Jose, when done properly. Enjoyable, also? Yes, but it's the "work" part that adds to longevity.

If you are looking at the encroaching aircraft, then nineteen seconds is
probably plenty of time. The point is, usually you are not. You just
scanned that part of the sky. You are now scanning other parts of the
sky. You can't scan it all at the same time. It takes time. You may
not return to that part of the sky for nineteen seconds, except in
general. Conflicts can come from any direction, and you can only see
(well) in a field 10 or 15 degrees wide. It only takes a few seconds
per "block" but there are 24 to 36 blocks, and we are not even counting
what is above or below by more than 15 degrees. So, at two seconds per
look, and 24 looks, we have forty-eight seconds before you get another
shot at the same 10-15 degree area.

Depending on conditions, it may take as much as TEN SECONDS to actually
see the traffic that you are looking right at. The implication of this
is that if you allow two seconds per look, and it takes you ten seconds
to see traffic in the configuration in question, you'll miss it four
times out of five.

But enough theory. How many times have you not seen traffic that was
pointed out to you (2 o'clock and four miles) by ATC? How long did it
take you to find the traffic you =did= see?

http://www.alaska.faa.gov/ata/MACA.htm

Jose
--
The monkey turns the crank and thinks he's making the music.
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