 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
An A321 captain experiences a TCAS RA with VFR traffic at 8;000 feet during the DOOBI2 arrival to iah. The intruder's transponder was intermittent; providing a late TCAS and ATC warning.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1278319 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201507 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | IAH.Airport |
| State Reference | TX |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A321 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Check Pilot Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict Airborne Conflict |
Narrative:
During descent into iah on the doobi 2 RNAV arrival; a VFR aircraft flew across our flight path and triggered an ATC traffic alert and a TCAS RA.the VFR aircraft suddenly appeared on our navigation display. It was at our current altitude. We got the ATC traffic alert along with a clearance to turn left immediately to heading 180. Seconds later we got the TCAS RA commanding 'descend; descend'. We continued the turn while complying with the TCAS RA. When the TCAS announced 'clear of conflict'; we reestablished automation and then complied with a new ATC clearance to return to the arrival. The remainder of the flight was uneventful.I spoke with a representative from houston TRACON. She told me that the traffic was being tracked after it departed galveston; tx. The traffic's transponder was intermittent. I can confirm that the TCAS TA target appeared suddenly on our displays; suggesting that it had just popped up. She also said that TRACON was experiencing an increase in VFR traffic failing to use flight following because they don't want have to wait for a climb clearance. This is an issue for houston TRACON to resolve. ATC and our TCAS system worked as designed and were the reason we were kept safe.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An A321 Captain experiences a TCAS RA with VFR traffic at 8;000 feet during the DOOBI2 arrival to IAH. The intruder's transponder was intermittent; providing a late TCAS and ATC warning.
Narrative: During descent into IAH on the DOOBI 2 RNAV arrival; a VFR aircraft flew across our flight path and triggered an ATC traffic alert and a TCAS RA.The VFR aircraft suddenly appeared on our Navigation display. It was at our current altitude. We got the ATC traffic alert along with a clearance to turn left immediately to heading 180. Seconds later we got the TCAS RA commanding 'DESCEND; DESCEND'. We continued the turn while complying with the TCAS RA. When the TCAS announced 'CLEAR OF CONFLICT'; we reestablished automation and then complied with a new ATC clearance to return to the arrival. The remainder of the flight was uneventful.I spoke with a representative from Houston TRACON. She told me that the traffic was being tracked after it departed Galveston; TX. The traffic's transponder was intermittent. I can confirm that the TCAS TA target appeared suddenly on our displays; suggesting that it had just popped up. She also said that TRACON was experiencing an increase in VFR traffic failing to use flight following because they don't want have to wait for a climb clearance. This is an issue for Houston TRACON to resolve. ATC and our TCAS system worked as designed and were the reason we were kept safe.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.