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TCAS RA saves the day for an MD88 flight crew and an unrepentant light twin pilot who had just canceled IFR.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 831984 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200904 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZTL.Airport |
| State Reference | GA |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | MD-88 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Route In Use | SID CADIT |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Small Transport |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 157 Flight Crew Total 8500 Flight Crew Type 5706 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict NMAC |
| Miss Distance | Horizontal 10 Vertical 200 |
Narrative:
On the cadit departure out of atlanta; an near midair collision occurred. Our clearance from departure control was to 'climb and maintain 14;000 ft and cleared direct to cadit.' we were then switched to ZTL. I checked in and received no answer. On the third try; ZTL answered and said our flight would have to remain at 14;000 ft; 'traffic ahead.' at this time; I acknowledged this clearance as we leveled off at 14;000 ft. We heard aircraft Y cancel IFR and proceed VFR. Our aircraft was level 14;000 ft and 15-20 miles from cadit at 300 KTS when we began to receive information from TCAS. ZTL advised 'traffic at 11 o'clock position and 10 miles.' the TCAS RA happened shortly after and we followed the guidance to descend at 2;000 FPM. The light twin passed right over our aircraft within 200 ft. I saw the light twin at the very last minute. We lost 1;000 ft of altitude avoiding the other aircraft. Had we not had TCAS working; both aircraft would have collided. I questioned ZTL on this incident and the light twin responded 'check your VFR flight rules.' we were given climb clearance and pass to different frequency.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: TCAS RA saves the day for an MD88 flight crew and an unrepentant light twin pilot who had just canceled IFR.
Narrative: On the CADIT departure out of Atlanta; an NMAC occurred. Our clearance from Departure Control was to 'Climb and maintain 14;000 FT and cleared direct to CADIT.' We were then switched to ZTL. I checked in and received no answer. On the third try; ZTL answered and said our flight would have to remain at 14;000 FT; 'Traffic ahead.' At this time; I acknowledged this clearance as we leveled off at 14;000 FT. We heard Aircraft Y cancel IFR and proceed VFR. Our aircraft was level 14;000 FT and 15-20 miles from CADIT at 300 KTS when we began to receive information from TCAS. ZTL advised 'Traffic at 11 o'clock position and 10 miles.' The TCAS RA happened shortly after and we followed the guidance to descend at 2;000 FPM. The light twin passed right over our aircraft within 200 FT. I saw the light twin at the very last minute. We lost 1;000 FT of altitude avoiding the other aircraft. Had we not had TCAS working; both aircraft would have collided. I questioned ZTL on this incident and the light twin responded 'Check your VFR flight rules.' We were given climb clearance and pass to different frequency.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.