Another midair in the pattern

On Jan 14, 10:26*am, JJ Sinclair wrote:
When I see the NTSB report 2 aircraft accidents at the same date, time
& place, it only means one thing. They came together in the air or on
the ground. On 12/20/10 in Madras Origon, a Taylorcraft and Cessna
came together while both were trying to land on runway16. The
Taylorcraft didn't have a radio! Please don't fly without a radio and
use it, Establish communication with your tow pilot by a simple com-
check like; Red tow this is JJ, how do you read? If I get a "loud and
clear", I know we can communicate if necessary. Next use your radio to
call entering the pattern, like "Madras traffic, glider JJ is entering
a left down-wind for runway 16 at Madras.

We lost 2 good men in Region 11 last year because the tow ship didn't
have a radio. Klem Bowman was killed in the Standard Class Nationals
when his stab fell and he didn't hear the call to release because he
was on the wrong frequency. An instructor died and his student was
severly injured when the battery went dead and they didn't hear the
tow pilot call, "Close your spoilers", a few years back at Minden.

The FAA hasn't seen fit to make radios mandatory, but we can put a
stop to this needless loss of life.Refuse to fly without a
radio.......... I believe proper use of the radio is nothing more than
good airmanship.

JJ Sinclair

There was a midair at SHD in Va. on 12/31 a helicopter and a C172,
everyone with radios, mode C squawing 1200 etc, and all talking/
monitoring the Unicom 123.00.....it still happens, a good pair of
20/20 eyeballs and some common sense goes a long way.

Yesterday, while on a 15 mile final in a B777, we
has a Cessna 182 pass 300 feet below us.
We got a traffic alert from ATC and a warning on
our TCAS (Traffic Collision Alert System). This is
very similar to the FLARM. From about 1/2 mile, we
finally had him visually as we flew over him. If the
pilot was looking out his window, there is no way he
could have missed seeing us.
When we get an alert from our TCAS, it really helps
us to locate the position of the threat, otherwise we
we don't need to look at it.
Everyone General Aviation/Glider pilot should have
a PCAS or FLARM. A midair with a commercial aircraft
will have devastating consequences for all of us.




Randy

On Jan 14, 3:02*pm, Randy wrote:
Yesterday, while on a 15 mile final in a B777, we
has a Cessna 182 *pass 300 feet below us.
We got a traffic alert from ATC and a warning on
our TCAS (Traffic Collision Alert System). This is
very similar to the FLARM. From about 1/2 mile, we
finally had him visually as we flew over him. If the
pilot was looking out his window, there is no way he
could have missed seeing us.
When we get an alert from our TCAS, it really helps
us to locate the position of the threat, otherwise we
we don't need to look at it.
Everyone General Aviation/Glider pilot should have
a PCAS or FLARM. A midair with a commercial aircraft
will have devastating consequences for all of us.

Randy

Sorry to be pedantic but if you fly with TCAS (actually TCAS II on a
777) you really should know what it is - "Traffic Alert and Collision
Avoidance System" not "Traffic Collision Alert System".

Don't take my word for it - http://adsb.tc.faa.gov/TCAS.htm and
numerous other references.

Andy

On 1/14/2011 5:02 PM, Randy wrote:
Yesterday, while on a 15 mile final in a B777, we
has a Cessna 182 pass 300 feet below us.
We got a traffic alert from ATC and a warning on
our TCAS (Traffic Collision Alert System). This is
very similar to the FLARM. From about 1/2 mile, we
finally had him visually as we flew over him. If the
pilot was looking out his window, there is no way he
could have missed seeing us.
When we get an alert from our TCAS, it really helps
us to locate the position of the threat, otherwise we
we don't need to look at it.
Everyone General Aviation/Glider pilot should have
a PCAS or FLARM. A midair with a commercial aircraft
will have devastating consequences for all of us.




Randy

If you are flying a 777 outside of Class A or Class B airspace, you need
to be looking out the window too. If you are flying IFR, ATC is only
providing separation services with other IFR aircraft. It is the
pilot's responsibility in both IFR and VFR aircraft to visually see and
avoid each other.

TCAS was never designed as the primary collision avoidance system. It
is not foolproof and was designed as a last line of defense when
everything else fails. That's how it should be getting used.

--
Mike Schumann

At 22:02 14 January 2011, Randy wrote:
Yesterday, while on a 15 mile final in a B777, we
has a Cessna 182 pass 300 feet below us.
We got a traffic alert from ATC and a warning on
our TCAS (Traffic Collision Alert System). This is
very similar to the FLARM. From about 1/2 mile, we
finally had him visually as we flew over him. If the
pilot was looking out his window, there is no way he
could have missed seeing us.

Sure, you're a bigger visual target than a 182, but I still have to
wonder how you could fail to see him from a half mile away, particularly
when you were already told where to look.

And even if he sees you, and you see him, the responsibility to avoid the
conflict applies equally to both aircraft, does it not? Admittedly,
you're landing, and you've got the right of way. But that doesn't give
you the right to run him down.

Jim Beckman