American pilots charged in Amazon jetliner crash

The fact that neither aircraft had a TCAS warning was a very significant
contributor to the accident. Given that both aircraft were virtually brand
new, this raises a lot of questions.

Mike Schumann

"Guy Elden Jr" wrote in message
ps.com...
This story just gets more and more bizarre... based on the evidence
I've seen reported so far, it certainly sounds to me like the Brazilian
air traffic control system itself is solely to blame for this accident.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americ....ap/index.html

--
Guy

Mike Schumann opined

The fact that neither aircraft had a TCAS warning was a very significant
contributor to the accident. Given that both aircraft were virtually brand
new, this raises a lot of questions.


Doesn't TCAS need surrounding transponders to be interogated by radar?

If so, then does TCAS work in an area without radar coverage?



-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

In article , "Ash Wyllie" wrote:

Doesn't TCAS need surrounding transponders to be interogated by radar?

No. TCAS II (aka ACAS in Europe) interrogates other aircraft.

If so, then does TCAS work in an area without radar coverage?

see above.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

"Mike Schumann" wrote in message
ink.net...
The fact that neither aircraft had a TCAS warning was a very significant
contributor to the accident. Given that both aircraft were virtually brand
new, this raises a lot of questions.

I read that the major weakness of TCAS is that they do not perform very well for
nearly head on flight paths. True? I don't know. I just read it, somewhere.
--
Jim in NC

In article , "Morgans"
wrote:

I read that the major weakness of TCAS is that they do not perform very well
for
nearly head on flight paths. True? I don't know. I just read it,
somewhere.

read it where?

Given how TCAS II works, it doesn't make sense that a head-on encounter
wouldn't work well, even at cruise speeds.

Have you ever talked to anyone that was involved in flight testing of
TCAS II?

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

"Bob Noel" wrote in message
...
In article , "Ash Wyllie"
wrote:

Doesn't TCAS need surrounding transponders to be interogated by radar?

No. TCAS II (aka ACAS in Europe) interrogates other aircraft.


No, it is TCAS II in Europe too. ACAS is the ICAO generic name for the
system.

In article , "Chris"
wrote:

No, it is TCAS II in Europe too. ACAS is the ICAO generic name for the
system.

well, that's not what some Europeans have told me...

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

"Bob Noel" wrote in message
...
In article , "Chris"

wrote:

No, it is TCAS II in Europe too. ACAS is the ICAO generic name for the
system.

well, that's not what some Europeans have told me...

They must be right then. I only got the information out of one of the JAA
(European) ATPL Instruments textbook which is used to prepare for the ATPL
exams.

or you can look here and see what they describe as the learning objectives
Bottom of page 32 of 41.

http://www.jaa.nl/licensing/jar-fcl/...pla_frame.html

"Bob Noel" wrote

read it where?

If I knew, I would have gone back and quoted it, here! g That is kinda' like
trying to look up how to spell a wierd word in a dictionary. How do you look up
how to spell it, if you don't know how to spell it? ;-)

I think it was on one of the aviation newsletters that I get on a subscription
basis. AvWeb, perhaps?

Given how TCAS II works, it doesn't make sense that a head-on encounter
wouldn't work well, even at cruise speeds.

Could be the high closing speeds, the radiation paterns of the antenna, or
something. I don't have any more details.

Have you ever talked to anyone that was involved in flight testing of
TCAS II?

Nope. Like I said, I only heard (or read) it, and posted it as a very "iffy",
possible-maybe-could be it-explanation.

Not very definitive, don't you think? g
--
Jim in NC