B757 captain on approach experienced a TCAS RA generated by an airbus approaching 16L. The captain w...

Narrative:

On vectors for approach to 16R. Approach control called converging traffic for 16L. We saw the airbus and called the traffic in sight. First officer (first officer) pilot flying (PF) armed the localizer after being cleared to intercept on a 145 heading. Winds aloft were from the ese at approx.30 knots providing us with undershooting winds and the converging traffic with overshooting winds. The aircraft captured the localizer without overshooting. I maintained visual contact with the parallel traffic the whole time (over my left shoulder) and their depiction on TCAS indicated yellow and +500. I remarked to the first officer that the traffic seemed pretty close. We were cleared for the approach; first officer armed approach and intercepted glideslope. At around 2;000 feet AGL; we received a RA 'climb; climb'. The TCAS depiction of the parallel traffic had switched to red +500. I visually observed the traffic above and to our left. Following the RA at that time would have been an unsafe course of action because it would have had us climb into the traffic. I told the first officer/PF to continue the approach and that I had the traffic in sight. There was no other traffic in the area that could possibly have caused the RA. The 'climb; climb' warning continued for a few seconds and then stopped. At around 1;700 feet AGL we received an additional RA; but this time it was 'descend; descend now'. The traffic was still in sight and in the same relative position as before. I again advised the first officer to continue the approach. At that time; the first officer slowed to our approach speed of 121 kts. The airbus soon passed us and all the ras stopped. We landed uneventfully. It is my opinion that following the guidance would have put both our aircraft in an unsafe situation. TCAS should not direct a climb to avoid traffic that is above us.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 Captain on approach experienced a TCAS RA generated by an Airbus approaching 16L. The Captain was the monitoring pilot with the traffic in sight and instructed the First Officer to continue the approach. The RA was calling for a climb initially; with the traffic clearly above.

Narrative: On vectors for approach to 16R. Approach Control called converging traffic for 16L. We saw the Airbus and called the traffic in sight. First Officer (FO) Pilot Flying (PF) armed the LOC after being cleared to intercept on a 145 heading. Winds aloft were from the ESE at approx.30 knots providing us with undershooting winds and the converging traffic with overshooting winds. The aircraft captured the LOC without overshooting. I maintained visual contact with the parallel traffic the whole time (over my left shoulder) and their depiction on TCAS indicated yellow and +500. I remarked to the FO that the traffic seemed pretty close. We were cleared for the approach; FO armed Approach and intercepted glideslope. At around 2;000 feet AGL; we received a RA 'Climb; Climb'. The TCAS depiction of the parallel traffic had switched to red +500. I visually observed the traffic above and to our left. Following the RA at that time would have been an unsafe course of action because it would have had us climb into the traffic. I told the FO/PF to continue the approach and that I had the traffic in sight. There was no other traffic in the area that could possibly have caused the RA. The 'Climb; Climb' warning continued for a few seconds and then stopped. At around 1;700 feet AGL we received an additional RA; but this time it was 'Descend; Descend now'. The traffic was still in sight and in the same relative position as before. I again advised the FO to continue the approach. At that time; the FO slowed to our approach speed of 121 kts. The airbus soon passed us and all the RAs stopped. We landed uneventfully. It is my opinion that following the guidance would have put both our aircraft in an unsafe situation. TCAS should not direct a climb to avoid traffic that is above us.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1364286
Time
Date	201606
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Airbus Industrie Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

B757 captain on approach experienced a TCAS RA generated by an airbus approaching 16L. The captain was the monitoring pilot with the traffic in sight and instructed the first officer to continue the approach. The RA was calling for a climb initially; with the traffic clearly above.