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A B767-200 flight crew; descending to 11;000 MSL; responded to a TCAS RA generated by a flight of two VFR military aircraft climbing to 10;500 MSL.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 984025 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201111 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZDC.ARTCC |
| State Reference | VA |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B767-200 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Thunderbolt II (Warthog A-10) |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Enroute |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude |
Narrative:
On descent into phl between brigs and vcn and descending to 11;000 MSL; ATC advised of traffic climbing to 10;500 below us. We had no visual contact. Passing northeast of acy VOR we received an RA climb command at about 11;500. The captain disconnected the autopilot and auto throttle and commenced an immediate climb to satisfy a vsi command of 'almost all of the vsi red!' while I tried to acquire the traffic I advised ATC we had received an RA and were climbing to follow it. I thought I saw traffic and it appeared to be single low wing aircraft coming near us; possibly less than 1;000 ft horizontally. On TCAS screen I got the impression that traffic was still climbing and not diverging even though we were now in steep climb. It appeared to go above 11;000. We continued to communicate with ATC and stopped climb once RA ceased clear of conflict approximately 13;000 and then descended back to 11;000. ATC advised it was a flight of two USAF A-10's. It appeared to me they were VFR traffic that were cleared to--but failed to level off at--10;500 and had actually climbed through 11;000. ATC should have better facts about actual vertical/horizontal distances.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B767-200 flight crew; descending to 11;000 MSL; responded to a TCAS RA generated by a flight of two VFR military aircraft climbing to 10;500 MSL.
Narrative: On descent into PHL between BRIGS AND VCN and descending to 11;000 MSL; ATC advised of traffic climbing to 10;500 below us. We had no visual contact. Passing northeast of ACY VOR we received an RA climb command at about 11;500. The Captain disconnected the autopilot and auto throttle and commenced an immediate climb to satisfy a VSI command of 'almost all of the VSI red!' While I tried to acquire the traffic I advised ATC we had received an RA and were climbing to follow it. I thought I saw traffic and it appeared to be single low wing aircraft coming near us; possibly less than 1;000 FT horizontally. On TCAS screen I got the impression that traffic was still climbing and not diverging even though we were now in steep climb. It appeared to go above 11;000. We continued to communicate with ATC and stopped climb once RA ceased clear of conflict approximately 13;000 and then descended back to 11;000. ATC advised it was a flight of two USAF A-10's. It appeared to me they were VFR traffic that were cleared to--but failed to level off at--10;500 and had actually climbed through 11;000. ATC should have better facts about actual vertical/horizontal distances.
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.