Class A airspace

Jack wrote:
Doug Haluza wrote:

It is normal procedure for airline pilots to file near-miss
reports--they do it all the time. I had to take evasive action with a
727 who turned toward me a while back, and when I filed my near-miss
report after landing, I was told that the other pilot had alredy filed
his.

You are talking NTSB reports? How would anyone know? They are
confidential. Someone may have made the comment that he was about to, or
that he had -- but a lot of good intentions go by the boards, too. On
the other hand, airline pilots do file NTSB reports fairly often, as
anyone can. In fact, more people should file them.

No, I was talking about an near miss report filed with the ATC center
responsible for the airspace. There is a desk that handles these, so
they are aware of all reports.

The FAA is responsible for enforcement, so we can leave that to them.
But the pilot community is responsible for reinforcement, and rewarding
pilots who break the rules gives negative reinforcement. Aside from the
regulatory issues, it is also unsportsmanlike conduct. So, we will
remove OLC flight claims that show ovbious violation of Class-A
airspace without a reasonable explanation. This is not Orwell's "Big
Brother" it's more like Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

I'm with you, Doug, but what is "obvious"? Sounds like a sticky little
detail. Let us know when the SSA/OLC bunch get it figured out, will you?

Well, you're right about this, it's not easy. Altitude errors in the
flight referenece altimeter and logger can be several hunded feet, but
a flight over 20,000' MSL corrected for field elevation at takeoff is
certainly a problem, probably over 19,000' MSL too. We don't want to
define a hard number, because that would set a limit for "allowable"
cheating. So anything 18,000' or over is questionable, and the question
must be answered by the pilot.

Pilots should be making a good faith effort to remain clear of Class A,
and not post flights to the OLC if they know they failed to do this
(whether intentional or not). They should also analyze their flight,
and if the trace has altitudes 18,000 feet or over after correcting for
QNH at field elevation, a comment in the claim is required. If they
don't have a reasonable explanation, they should not post it, or they
should remove the claim if someone else points this out to them. If no
reasonable explanation is given, it may also be removed by an OLC
Admin.

So, while we are not in the business of punishing bad behavior, we are
not in the business of rewarding it either.

Doug Haluza
SSA-OLC Admin