Near midair collision between a B757 descending through 8200 ft and 2 aircraft -- one a low wing in ...

Attributes
ACN	539015
Time
Date	200202
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	intersection : dylin
State Reference	NJ
Altitude	msl bound lower : 8000 msl bound upper : 8400
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : n90.tracon tower : zzz.tower
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Route In Use	arrival star : dqo.dylin 1
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft, Low Wing, 1 Eng, Retractable Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	cruise : level
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : multi engine
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 170 flight time total : 16000 flight time type : 3000
ASRS Report	539015
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Events
Anomaly	conflict : nmac other anomaly other
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment : tcas other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : took evasive action
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Miss Distance	horizontal : 200 vertical : 100
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance

Narrative:

We were descending to cross dylin at 8000 ft on the dylin 1 arrival to ewr. TA alerted to an aircraft 700 ft above us to the left. We located it, then got RA with indication to climb. Started climb to about 8300-8400 ft. I started back to the right as climb indication made no sense, but TCASII may have alerted on something else. We are trained to follow the command bars on TCASII RA. Next we saw a low wing single engine aircraft very close above -- 100 ft -- maneuvering and it passed off our left wing going southwest. As I look back on this, there may have been 2 aircraft. Actually there had to have been 2 aircraft for the TCASII to give us the commands it did. On the first TA I saw the plane and it appeared to be banking and maneuvering steeply. Perhaps we flew through 2 planes in a dog fight. The one I saw was a single engine low wing aircraft. It was certainly scary. We reported to approach that we had taken evasive action. I talked with the controller's supervisor later. I don't think our controller realized we'd had an near midair collision, as he didn't know why we wanted his phone number. By the time he looked at us on the scope we had corrected back and his call of 'your at 8100 ft' didn't make sense to us. This was a beautiful clear VFR day wth calm winds and my TCASII alerted to no less than 3 TA's after our RA happened in the 15 mins it took us to fly to ewr -- landing north. These TA's would have been legal VFR flts. The supervisor said 'yeah, the la guardia pilots used to complain all the time about this. It's a very densely populated airport area.'

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: NMAC BTWN A B757 DSNDING THROUGH 8200 FT AND 2 ACFT -- ONE A LOW WING IN A STEEP BANK MANEUVERING 100 FT OFF THE L WING, AND ANOTHER ACFT THAT CAUSED A TCASII RESPONSE, BUT NOT SIGHTED.

Narrative: WE WERE DSNDING TO CROSS DYLIN AT 8000 FT ON THE DYLIN 1 ARR TO EWR. TA ALERTED TO AN ACFT 700 FT ABOVE US TO THE L. WE LOCATED IT, THEN GOT RA WITH INDICATION TO CLB. STARTED CLB TO ABOUT 8300-8400 FT. I STARTED BACK TO THE R AS CLB INDICATION MADE NO SENSE, BUT TCASII MAY HAVE ALERTED ON SOMETHING ELSE. WE ARE TRAINED TO FOLLOW THE COMMAND BARS ON TCASII RA. NEXT WE SAW A LOW WING SINGLE ENG ACFT VERY CLOSE ABOVE -- 100 FT -- MANEUVERING AND IT PASSED OFF OUR L WING GOING SW. AS I LOOK BACK ON THIS, THERE MAY HAVE BEEN 2 ACFT. ACTUALLY THERE HAD TO HAVE BEEN 2 ACFT FOR THE TCASII TO GIVE US THE COMMANDS IT DID. ON THE FIRST TA I SAW THE PLANE AND IT APPEARED TO BE BANKING AND MANEUVERING STEEPLY. PERHAPS WE FLEW THROUGH 2 PLANES IN A DOG FIGHT. THE ONE I SAW WAS A SINGLE ENG LOW WING ACFT. IT WAS CERTAINLY SCARY. WE RPTED TO APCH THAT WE HAD TAKEN EVASIVE ACTION. I TALKED WITH THE CTLR'S SUPVR LATER. I DON'T THINK OUR CTLR REALIZED WE'D HAD AN NMAC, AS HE DIDN'T KNOW WHY WE WANTED HIS PHONE NUMBER. BY THE TIME HE LOOKED AT US ON THE SCOPE WE HAD CORRECTED BACK AND HIS CALL OF 'YOUR AT 8100 FT' DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO US. THIS WAS A BEAUTIFUL CLR VFR DAY WTH CALM WINDS AND MY TCASII ALERTED TO NO LESS THAN 3 TA'S AFTER OUR RA HAPPENED IN THE 15 MINS IT TOOK US TO FLY TO EWR -- LNDG N. THESE TA'S WOULD HAVE BEEN LEGAL VFR FLTS. THE SUPVR SAID 'YEAH, THE LA GUARDIA PLTS USED TO COMPLAIN ALL THE TIME ABOUT THIS. IT'S A VERY DENSELY POPULATED ARPT AREA.'

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.

Near midair collision between a B757 descending through 8200 ft and 2 aircraft -- one a low wing in a steep bank maneuvering 100 ft off the left wing, and another aircraft that caused a TCASII response, but not sighted.