Narrative:

Flight on mar/xa/00, B727 from cvg to bdl. The aircraft was in cruise at FL250 near newcomerstown VOR on the reds departure procedure, first officer flying (autoplt on), captain talking on the radio to ZID on 132.82. At approximately AB40 am we heard a TCASII advisory, 'traffic, traffic' and noted an aircraft at our altitude approaching us head on at about 15 mi. We immediately received a 'monitor vertical speed' alert and saw a climb indication displayed on the vsi. At that same time ZID called and ordered an immediate 30 degree right turn and also ordered us to expedite the turn. First officer disconnected the autoplt and aggressively climbed and turned the aircraft to the right. We were now receiving the 'climb, climb now' alert from the TCASII and during this maneuver we were continually receiving the 'climb' alert. As the aircraft passed FL260 the 'clear of conflict' advisory was announced and the aircraft was leveled at FL270 and 30 degrees right of the original heading. We then descended the aircraft back to FL250 and informed the controller for our intentions. We received another vector heading from the controller to avoid an additional aircraft that was again at our altitude and heading directly toward us. The controller made no specific mention concerning the incident except to 'thank us for the help' as she sent us over to another controller in the ZOB area. Prior to the incident, the controller had made reference on two occasions to the fact that she was talking to two separate frequencys and appeared to me to be overloaded and somewhat distracted by the volume of traffic she was working with at the time. I cannot state with any certainty how close we came to the other aircraft, but I feel that it was probably within 5 mi. I have noted an increase in the number of controllers that are working on two separate frequencys simultaneously and this often results in missed radio calls by the controller and general deterioration in the quality of communication not to mention safety.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B727-200 FLC IS ALERTED BY THEIR TCASII OF 2 OCCASIONS OF OPPOSITE DIRECTION, SAME ALT TFC, THAT WAS AVERTED BY LAST MIN ACTIONS BY THE CREW AND ATC OVER NCT, PA.

Narrative: FLT ON MAR/XA/00, B727 FROM CVG TO BDL. THE ACFT WAS IN CRUISE AT FL250 NEAR NEWCOMERSTOWN VOR ON THE REDS DEP PROC, FO FLYING (AUTOPLT ON), CAPT TALKING ON THE RADIO TO ZID ON 132.82. AT APPROX AB40 AM WE HEARD A TCASII ADVISORY, 'TFC, TFC' AND NOTED AN ACFT AT OUR ALT APCHING US HEAD ON AT ABOUT 15 MI. WE IMMEDIATELY RECEIVED A 'MONITOR VERT SPD' ALERT AND SAW A CLB INDICATION DISPLAYED ON THE VSI. AT THAT SAME TIME ZID CALLED AND ORDERED AN IMMEDIATE 30 DEG R TURN AND ALSO ORDERED US TO EXPEDITE THE TURN. FO DISCONNECTED THE AUTOPLT AND AGGRESSIVELY CLBED AND TURNED THE ACFT TO THE R. WE WERE NOW RECEIVING THE 'CLB, CLB NOW' ALERT FROM THE TCASII AND DURING THIS MANEUVER WE WERE CONTINUALLY RECEIVING THE 'CLB' ALERT. AS THE ACFT PASSED FL260 THE 'CLR OF CONFLICT' ADVISORY WAS ANNOUNCED AND THE ACFT WAS LEVELED AT FL270 AND 30 DEGS R OF THE ORIGINAL HEADING. WE THEN DSNDED THE ACFT BACK TO FL250 AND INFORMED THE CTLR FOR OUR INTENTIONS. WE RECEIVED ANOTHER VECTOR HEADING FROM THE CTLR TO AVOID AN ADDITIONAL ACFT THAT WAS AGAIN AT OUR ALT AND HEADING DIRECTLY TOWARD US. THE CTLR MADE NO SPECIFIC MENTION CONCERNING THE INCIDENT EXCEPT TO 'THANK US FOR THE HELP' AS SHE SENT US OVER TO ANOTHER CTLR IN THE ZOB AREA. PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT, THE CTLR HAD MADE REF ON TWO OCCASIONS TO THE FACT THAT SHE WAS TALKING TO TWO SEPARATE FREQS AND APPEARED TO ME TO BE OVERLOADED AND SOMEWHAT DISTRACTED BY THE VOLUME OF TFC SHE WAS WORKING WITH AT THE TIME. I CANNOT STATE WITH ANY CERTAINTY HOW CLOSE WE CAME TO THE OTHER ACFT, BUT I FEEL THAT IT WAS PROBABLY WITHIN 5 MI. I HAVE NOTED AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF CTLRS THAT ARE WORKING ON TWO SEPARATE FREQS SIMULTANEOUSLY AND THIS OFTEN RESULTS IN MISSED RADIO CALLS BY THE CTLR AND GENERAL DETERIORATION IN THE QUALITY OF COM NOT TO MENTION SAFETY.

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.