Narrative:

I was giving a route familiarization ride to a crew going into bog. We were operating in a non radar environment because the bogota radar was notamed 'in service for information and surveillance. Radar vectoring suspended' we were on our flight plan proceeding direct to uti NDB. When we were about 10 mi from uti, we were given a clearance to hold with an expect further clearance of about 20 mins. The captain verified with ATC that we were to hold at uti at FL200. The captain and first officer quickly tried to program the GPS units for holding since we were only a few seconds away. Just as they finished, we reached uti and we all noticed a B727 of an unknown south american airline, pass off our port side about 200 yards away and at our altitude or just slightly below. They were turning away from us either to avoid us or may have just been entering holding from another direction. The captain asked ATC about the traffic and they said he was at FL190. We agreed in our cockpit that he was not and later in the holding pattern we saw what we think was the same aircraft 1000 ft below. I am sure we were at the correct cleared altitude and position. Contributing factors: all communications were in spanish except to us. This decreased our situational awareness of other aircraft on the frequency. Both front end crew went 'heads down' to program the GPS units. They were both fairly new to them, but the PF should have remained 'heads up.' TCASII, because we are a cargo aircraft we have no TCASII. In this situation we would have had a warning of this potential collision. I believe that TCASII is even more important when flying into countries where more than one language is spoken by ATC.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A FREIGHTER CREW ON AN AIRLINE B727 HAS A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH ANOTHER B727 WHILE IN A HOLDING PATTERN NEAR BOG. THE CREW COMPLAINS OF THE LACK OF A PARTYLINE AND THE NEED FOR TCASII EQUIP ON FREIGHTERS.

Narrative: I WAS GIVING A RTE FAMILIARIZATION RIDE TO A CREW GOING INTO BOG. WE WERE OPERATING IN A NON RADAR ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE THE BOGOTA RADAR WAS NOTAMED 'IN SVC FOR INFO AND SURVEILLANCE. RADAR VECTORING SUSPENDED' WE WERE ON OUR FLT PLAN PROCEEDING DIRECT TO UTI NDB. WHEN WE WERE ABOUT 10 MI FROM UTI, WE WERE GIVEN A CLRNC TO HOLD WITH AN EXPECT FURTHER CLRNC OF ABOUT 20 MINS. THE CAPT VERIFIED WITH ATC THAT WE WERE TO HOLD AT UTI AT FL200. THE CAPT AND FO QUICKLY TRIED TO PROGRAM THE GPS UNITS FOR HOLDING SINCE WE WERE ONLY A FEW SECONDS AWAY. JUST AS THEY FINISHED, WE REACHED UTI AND WE ALL NOTICED A B727 OF AN UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICAN AIRLINE, PASS OFF OUR PORT SIDE ABOUT 200 YARDS AWAY AND AT OUR ALT OR JUST SLIGHTLY BELOW. THEY WERE TURNING AWAY FROM US EITHER TO AVOID US OR MAY HAVE JUST BEEN ENTERING HOLDING FROM ANOTHER DIRECTION. THE CAPT ASKED ATC ABOUT THE TFC AND THEY SAID HE WAS AT FL190. WE AGREED IN OUR COCKPIT THAT HE WAS NOT AND LATER IN THE HOLDING PATTERN WE SAW WHAT WE THINK WAS THE SAME ACFT 1000 FT BELOW. I AM SURE WE WERE AT THE CORRECT CLRED ALT AND POS. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: ALL COMS WERE IN SPANISH EXCEPT TO US. THIS DECREASED OUR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS OF OTHER ACFT ON THE FREQ. BOTH FRONT END CREW WENT 'HEADS DOWN' TO PROGRAM THE GPS UNITS. THEY WERE BOTH FAIRLY NEW TO THEM, BUT THE PF SHOULD HAVE REMAINED 'HEADS UP.' TCASII, BECAUSE WE ARE A CARGO ACFT WE HAVE NO TCASII. IN THIS SIT WE WOULD HAVE HAD A WARNING OF THIS POTENTIAL COLLISION. I BELIEVE THAT TCASII IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT WHEN FLYING INTO COUNTRIES WHERE MORE THAN ONE LANGUAGE IS SPOKEN BY ATC.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.