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#19
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Troubling story and some questions
Hi:
Jumping into the fray here (both feet!) with some ASRS reports about NMACs at altitude. ACN: 751929 Date : 200708 (B737-300 at 14000 MSL near Reno, NV) Synopsis: B737 FLT CREW RPTS TCAS RA WITH GLIDER AT 14000 FT 25 NM SW OF RNO. Narrative: 14000 FT SW OF RNO, APCH ADVISED TFC WITH XPONDER AT OR NEAR OUR ALT. THE TFC QUICKLY BECAME A TA AND THEN AN RA. I FOLLOWED CONFLICT GUIDANCE WITH A DSCNT AND THEN THE RA QUICKLY COMMANDED A 'CLB, CLB NOW.' I QUICKLY START CLBING WITH MAX POWER AND THEN DECIDED TO TURN OFF COURSE TO THE WEST. A GLIDER PASSED OFF OUR R/EAST SIDE APPROX 200 FT COMING HEAD ON. THE TA/RA ISSUES WERE THE GLIDER WAS CLBING AND DSNDING WHICH CAUSED THE TA/RA TO REVERSE ITS CONFLICT CALL FROM DSND TO CLB. APCH IN RNO IS VERY UPSET WITH THESE GLIDERS AND WE NEED SOME RESTRS ON THEIR AIRSPACE TO AVOID THIS CONFLICT. THESE MANEUVERS WERE AGGRESSIVE AND I PERSONALLY FEEL IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN FOLLOWED, A WORSE SITUATION WOULD HAVE OCCURRED. GLIDER RESTRS. ACN: 739528 Date : 200705 (Citation II flying at 12000 MSL) Synopsis: C550 FLT CREW TOOK EVASIVE ACTION TO AVOID GLIDER ACTIVITY. Narrative: WE WERE ON THE ZZZZZ ARR INTO ZZZ, DSNDING TO 12000 FT TO MEET THE XING RESTR, WHEN THE CTLR TOLD US TO DSND TO 11000 FT FOR TFC. WE SAW A TARGET AT 500 FT ABOVE ON THE TCAS (JUST APPEARED) AND AS WE INCREASED OUR RATE OF DSCNT WE GOT A TFC ALERT AND THE TARGET TURNED TO ORANGE ON THE TCAS. WE SAW A GLIDER AND RPTED IT TO ATC (WE PREVIOUSLY HEARD HIM ALERT ANOTHER ACFT OF AN UNIDENTED TARGET IN THE AREA, POSSIBLY A GLIDER) AS THE GLIDER PASSED SLIGHTLY TO OUR 1 O'CLOCK POS, ANOTHER GLIDER APPEARED DIRECTLY AT 12 O'CLOCK POS, THE PF BANKED STEEPLY TO THE R AND DSNDED FURTHER TO AVOID THE GLIDER. LOOKING TO MY L I SAW A FLASH OF PARTIAL GLIDER PASS ABOVE US (WE WERE CLOSE ENOUGH THAT THE COMPLETE WING SPAN WAS NOT VISIBLE). I ADVISED THE CTLR WE WERE DIVERTING FOR ANOTHER GLIDER AND WE WENT BELOW OUR ASSIGNED ALT BY OVER 400 FT WHILE RECOVERING. BOTH GLIDERS WERE FLYING JUST ABOVE THE RIDGE, A GREAT PLACE TO SOAR, BUT PRECISELY ON THE ARR PATH AND ALT. ONLY 1 TA WAS VISIBLE ON THE TCAS. THIS WAS A GREAT CALL FROM THE CTLR, AS XMISSIONS WERE THE USUAL BUSY ZZZ ARR ON A FRIDAY EVENING. AFTER A MOMENT OF SILENCE, I ADVISED THE CTLR AGAIN THAT THERE WERE 2 GLIDERS ON THE ARR ABOVE THE RIDGE. I WILL ATTEMPT TODAY TO CALL THE TRACON TO DISCUSS THE ALT DEV AND THANK THE CTLR FOR HIS VIGILANCE. ACN: 736824 Date : 200704 A320 at 11000 MSL Synopsis: A320 CAPTAIN EXPERIENCES NMAC WITH GLIDER WHILE IN DESCENT TO LAS. Narrative: NEAR MISS WITH GLIDER FLYING N TO S ALONG RIDGE LINE. CLOSEST POINT OF INTERCEPT: APPROX 200 FT. NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN BASED ON GEOMETRY. WE TOLD CTLR AND SHE INFORMED THE NEXT ARR ACFT BEHIND US OF A POSSIBLE 'PRIMARY' TARGET. I SPOKE WITH TRACON AND THEY SAID THEY FREQUENTLY FLY THE RIDGE AND ARE HARD TO DETECT ON RADAR. HE ALSO MENTIONED THAT GLIDERS CAN STILL FLY IN CLASS C WITHOUT MODE C. ACN: 716529 Date : 200611 B737-700 at 6000MSL near Panoche Synopsis: B737-700 FLT CREW HAS A TCAS RA DURING PANOCHE TWO ARR TO OAK. ACFT WAS ON PANOCHE ARR INTO OAK IN VMC CONDITIONS. WE WERE VECTORED 10 DEGS R OF COURSE FOR GA ACFT SEPARATION. WE WERE LEVEL AT 6000 FT AND INSTRUCTED TO DSND TO 5000 FT TO CLR TFC. I SAW TFC MANEUVERING AT OUR 11 O'CLOCK POS AND WAS TOLD BY ATC THAT IT WAS A MOONEY ABOVE US. HOWEVER, IT TURNED OUT TO BE A GLIDER BELOW US IN A R BANK TURNING DIRECTLY TOWARDS US. THE GLIDER CONTINUED TO TURN AND CLB TOWARDS US. I ADDED PWR AND STARTED A CLB AND TURNED AWAY FROM THE TFC. THE FO NOTIFIED ATC OF OUR AVOIDANCE MANEUVER JUST AS THE TCAS RA SOUNDED A FEW SECONDS AFTER ADDING PWR. IT INDICATED A 2000 FPM CLB IN ORDER TO CLR THE TFC, AND WE CLBED IMMEDIATELY TO 7000 FT. THE CTLR SEEMED CONFUSED TO WHY WE WERE CLBING WHEN WE WERE GIVEN A DSCNT CLRNC. THE CTLR DID NOT KNOW THERE WAS A GLIDER IN THE AREA AND HAD NO CONTACT WITH THE GLIDER. ATC INSTRUCTED US TO DSND WHEN ABLE. VFR TFC SHOULD AVOID MANEUVERING OVER ARR RTES WITHOUT COMMUNICATING TO ATC. ACN: 708924 Date : 200608 Citation V at 16000 MSL Synopsis: A C560 CLBING OUT OF BJC EXPERIENCED A NEAR MISS WITH A SAILPLANE AT 16000 FT. WHILE BEING VECTORED AROUND A SLOWER ACFT ON THE ROCK14.EKR DEP FROM THE BOULDER JEFFERSON COUNTY ARPT, WE EXPERIENCED A NEAR MISS WITH A SAILPLANE. WE WERE ASSIGNED ON A 240 DEG HDG, CLRED TO FL230 FROM DENVER DEP CTL ON THE 126.1 MHZ FREQ, AND CLBING AT 280 KTS CAS AT 2000 FPM. AT EXACTLY 16000 FT MSL, WE WERE STARTLED BY THE SIGHTING OF THE GLIDER AT ABOUT OUR 1 O'CLOCK POSITION AND A QUARTER MILE DISTANT. THE GLIDER WAS FLYING AT APPROX THE SAME HDG IN STRAIGHT AND LEVEL FLT SO HE WAS UNAWARE OF US AT THAT MOMENT. I MADE NO EVASIVE MANEUVER AND THE GLIDER PASSED OUR STARBOARD WING ABOUT TWO SECONDS LATER. MY GUESS IS THAT THE GLIDER WAS ABOUT A FOOTBALL FIELD LENGTH HORIZONTALLY AWAY -- CLOSE ENOUGH TO SEE THE PLT CLEARLY. I CAN ONLY GUESS THAT THE PLT OF THIS GLIDER WAS EQUALLY STARTLED BY THE SIGHT AND SOUND OF OUR PASSING CLOSELY AT A HIGH RATE OF SPD AND THRUST. WE MENTIONED THE NEAR MISS SITUATION TO DEP CTL AND HE RESPONDED TO US THAT HE HAD NO RADAR OR RADIO CONTACT WITH THE GLIDER. GLIDER ACFT, OUTSIDE OF CLASS A, B, AND C AIRSPACE, ARE EXEMPT FROM XPONDER/ALT REPORTING EQUIP UNDER FAR 91.215(b)(5). A WEEK AGO A HAWKER HS-125 JET COLLIDED WITH A GLIDER NEAR MEV IN A SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCE WITH NO CASUALTIES EXCEPT FOR THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE SAILPLANE AND SERIOUS DAMAGE TO THE JET. I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE PRUDENT FOR SAILPLANE PLTS TO CARRY A HANDHELD TRANSCEIVER AND POSSIBLY A MODE 3/A OR C XPONDER TO COMMUNICATE WITH ATC FOR SAFETY AND SURVIVAL REASONS. CARRYING ABOARD PORTABLE SYSTEMS WOULD NOT BE DIFFICULT. SIZE, COST, AND WT WOULD POSE VERY LITTLE PROBLEM. THIS INCIDENT IMPRESSED ON ME AND MY FO OF THE IMPORTANCE OF 'SEE-AND AVOID' ON AN IFR CLRNC IN VMC. IN SPECULATION, IF THE GLIDER HAD BEEN DIRECTLY IN OUR PATH, I'M CONFIDENT THAT WE COULD HAVE EVADED A COLLISION AT THE INITIAL SIGHTING WITH A QUARTER MILE SEPARATION. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY CLOSE REQUIRING AN ABRUPT PULL-UP MANEUVER. IF WE HAD NOT BEEN WATCHING, IN THIS SAME SCENARIO, I HAVE NIGHTMARES CONTEMPLATING THE RESULT. ACN: 679562 Date : 200512 Synopsis: A B737-300 PLT RPTS AN NMAC WITH A GLIDER AT 13000 FT APPROX 30 DME S ON APCH TO RNO RWY 34. Narrative: WHILE DSNDING ON TARVR 1 ARR INTO RNO, APCH CTLR CALLED POSSIBLE GLIDER TFC AT OUR 12-1 O'CLOCK POS, APPROX 5 MI, ALT UNKNOWN. WE ENTERED A CLOUD CONTINUING OUR IFR DSCNT. UPON EXITING THE CLOUD AT APPROX 13000 FT MSL AND 30 DME FROM RNO, ON THE TARVR 1 ARR BTWN THE FIXES TARVR AND SPOON, THE CAPT SPOTTED THE GLIDER AT CLOSE RANGE ON THE APPROX SAME HDG AND ALT. THE CAPT TOOK CTL OF THE ACFT. THE CAPT TOOK EVASIVE MANEUVERS TO AVOID THE GLIDER. THE CLOSEST POINT OF APCH WAS APPROX 200 FT. WE INFORMED THE CTLR OF THE NMAC AND CONTINUED UNEVENTFULLY INTO RENO. I BELIEVE THE GLIDER HAD NO SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AS TO HIS LOCATION ALONG THE ARR INTO RENO. PERHAPS THE GLIDER PLTS NEED SOME WAY OF BEING INFORMED WHEN RENO IS CONDUCTING N ARRS. ACN: 656782 Date : 200505 Synopsis: B737 FLT CREW WITH ZAU AT 7000 FT EXPERIENCED NMAC WITH UNRPTED SAILPLANE DURING ARR TO MDW. Narrative: I WAS ON THE MOTIF ARR TO MDW TALKING TO ZAU. I CANNOT RECALL THE FREQ, BUT THE LAST ONE BEFORE HDOF TO APCH. WE WERE ORIGINALLY CLRED TO CROSS 5 MI S OF JOT AT 6000 FT AND WERE THEN CLRED TO CROSS 10 MI S OF JOT AT 7000 FT, WHICH WE COMPLIED. FLT CONDITIONS WERE CLR OF CLOUDS AND HAZY WITH FLT VISIBILITY AROUND 5 MI. WE WERE LEVEL AT 7000 FT INDICATING 250 KTS WITH THE FO FLYING. I WAS DOING MY NORMAL SCAN FOR TFC WHEN JUST AHEAD, APPROX 11 O'CLOCK POS, A SAILPLANE APPEARED STRAIGHT-ON IN A STEEP R BANK. IT WENT PAST MY SIDE WINDOW STILL IN THE BANK, BUT VERY CLOSE, MAYBE 200 FT LEFT AND LESS THAN 50 FT ABOVE. THIS ALL HAPPENED IN AN INSTANT, BUT I ACTUALLY SAW THE PLT IN HIS SEAT. THE SAILPLANE WAS A T-TAIL SINGLE SEAT VERSION. MY FO ALSO SAW THE ACFT FOR AN INSTANT AFTER HE MUST HAVE HEARD ME SAY AN '&^%$#.' THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO TIME FOR AN EVASIVE MANEUVER. THE ACFT APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE AND ITS CROSS SECTION STRAIGHT-ON IN HAZY CONDITIONS MADE IT NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE. I CALLED THE CTR AND SAID I HAD A CLOSE CALL WITH A SAILPLANE AND WAS ASKED HOW CLOSE. I SAID LESS THAN 500 FT, AND HE ACKNOWLEDGED SAYING THAT NO ACFT WAS BEING PAINTED NEAR ME. I WAS THEN HANDED OVER TO CHICAGO APCH CTL AND ALSO TOLD HIM ABOUT THE SAILPLANE ACTIVITY ON THE ARR, AND HE SAID HE WAS GETTING A HIT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE IN THAT AREA. I BELIEVE THAT IF WE WERE 100 FT LEFT AND A FEW FT HIGHER, A COLLISION WOULD HAVE OCCURRED. AS A CREW, WE WERE ACTIVELY SCANNING AND PREPARING FOR 'NORMAL' VECTORS TO THE APCH. I SAW NO FAULT IN ATC WHATSOEVER. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY SAILPLANES ARE ALLOWED TO FLY ON A KNOWN ARR RTE TO ONE OF THE BUSIEST AIRSPACES IN THE COUNTRY, ESPECIALLY WITHOUT A XPONDER. I HAVE WRACKED MY BRAIN TRYING TO THINK OF WHAT I COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY, BUT FIND NOTHING. WE WERE A STERILE COCKPIT WITH ALL ACFT LIGHTS. I JUST DID NOT SEE THE ACFT COMING, AND ANY REACTION WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO LATE. THE GLIDERS HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE FLYING, BUT MAYBE A CHANGE IN THE ARR RTE AWAY FROM GLIDER FIELDS OR AN ALT CAP FOR THEM IN THAT AREA SHOULD BE LOOKED AT. ALSO, TRAINING TO THE GLIDER PLTS IN THE AREA OUGHT TO BE GIVEN, OUTLINING THE HIGH DENSITY ARR RTES TO THE CHICAGO AREA. IT WAS A CHILLING EVENT TO MY FO AND ME. IT WAS A VERY CLOSE CALL. ACN: 621472 Date : 200406 Synopsis: S56 CTLR RPTED NMAC BTWN B737 ARR TO SLC AND GLIDER AT 11000 FT. Narrative: I WAS WORKING THE JORDAN RADAR SECTOR (SALT LAKE CITY TRACON) AND HAD CLRED ACFT X FOR A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 34R. AT 11000 FT HE RPTED TAKING EVASIVE ACTION TO MISS A GLIDER AND RPTED AN NMAC. I NEVER OBSERVED ANY TFC IN HIS VICINITY. THE AREA IS APPROX 8 MI FROM A KNOWN GLIDER AREA, WHERE THERE IS A 'GLIDER BOX' FOR GLIDERS TO CLB/ DSND THROUGH CLASS B AIRSPACE. ACN: 620997 Date : 200406 Synopsis: NMAC BTWN AN ARR B737-300 AND A GLIDER ON THE EXTENDED CTRLINE OF LOC RWY 34R AT 11000 FT, 3 NM N OF FFU VORTAC, UT. Narrative: WHILE DSNDING INTO SLC, JUST N OF FFU VOR, WE HAD JUST LEVELED AT 11000 FT AT 230 KTS FOR LIGHT TURB. WE WERE THEN CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO RWY 34R. I LOOKED AT MY APCH PLATE AND THEN THE FMC/ CDU LEGS PAGE TO CONFIRM OUR NEXT ALT UNTIL PLAGE. MY FO STATED, 'CAPT, WE'VE GOT A GLIDER AT 12 O'CLOCK POS. WE NEED TO TURN R NOW AND DSND.' I DISCONNECTED THE AUTOPLT AND APPLIED R AILERON AND NOSE DOWN CTL INPUTS WHILE LOOKING FOR THE TFC. I SPOTTED THE SAIL PLANE AT OUR ALT, JUST L OF OUR NOSE, WITH NO RELATIVE MOTION IN MY WINDSCREEN, COMING NOSE ON. AS I ROLLED R AND DSNDED, THE SAIL PLANE PLT BANKED TO HIS L, TURNING DIRECTLY INTO OUR PATH. I INCREASED BANK ANGLE TO APPROX 40 DEGS AND NOSE DOWN PITCH TO APPROX 10-12 DEGS AND IGNORED THE AUDIBLE, 'BANK ANGLE' WARNINGS. AS THE SAIL PLANE PASSED DOWN THE L SIDE OF OUR ACFT, MISSING US BY APPROX 150 FT HORIZLY AND 30 FT VERTLY, I SAW THE PLT REVERSE HIS ROLL TO R BANK. WE LEVELED AT 9500 FT, RPTED THE NMAC TO APCH CTL FOR THE BENEFIT OF FOLLOWING ACR ACFT, AND COMPLETED THE APCH TO AND LNDG ON RWY 34R WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. I HAD ALREADY SEATED THE FLT ATTENDANTS PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT, AND AFTER LNDG, THEY RPTED THAT NO PAX WERE INJURED OR OVERLY ALARMED. I THEN CALLED APCH CTL, DISPATCH, THE CHIEF PLT ON CALL, AND COMPLETED THE REQUIRED RPTS. ACN: 619666 Date : 200405 Synopsis: B767 FLT CREW EXPERIENCED NMAC WITH GLIDER AT 7000 FT NEAR CRANK INTXN DURING ARR TO EWR. Narrative: ON ARR TO EWR, WE CROSSED CRANK INTXN AT 7000 FT AS IS USUAL ON THIS ARR. I CONTACTED NY APCH. I LOOKED OUT OF MY WINDOW AND SAW A GLIDER AT OUR ALT, IN A L TURN AT MY 2 O'CLOCK POS. IT CONTINUED ITS TURN AND ENDED UP COMING TOWARDS US, THEN BANKED STEEPLY AWAY FROM US. THE 2 ACFT CAME WITHIN 200-250 FT OF EACH OTHER. I QUERIED NY APCH ABOUT A GLIDER. HE SAID HE DID NOT SHOW ANYTHING. ABOUT 20 SECONDS LATER, THE CTLR INFORMED ME HE HAD 2 PRIMARY RETURNS. HE ASKED ME HOW CLOSE WE CAME TO EACH OTHER. I INFORMED HIM OF MY OPINION, AND HE CONCURRED WITH MY OPINION AND A FLT BEHIND US ON THE ARR CONFIRMED THAT THE GLIDERS WERE STILL AT 7000 FT. WE DID NOT TAKE EVASIVE ACTION. BY THE TIME I POINTED OUT TFC TO MY CAPT, THERE WAS NO POINT IN MAKING EXCESSIVE MANEUVERS. These came from the first 50 hits from a search on "glider" on the ASRS database. -Teresa |
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