A B737-700 departing in moderate rain and limited visibility maneuvered at low altitude in response ...

Narrative:

Tower cleared us for takeoff with an initial heading of 360 degrees. Takeoff roll was uneventful; however; rain intensity increased to moderate right after rotation. Tower then instructed us to turn north as soon as able. First officer acknowledged ATC's instruction. At this moment we were less than 200 AGL in limited visibility so I continued on runway heading. The tower then called out traffic at our 12 o'clock and 2 miles. I observed the traffic on TCAS and began an immediate left turn while climbing through 300 ft. The rain intensity was moderate to heavy at this point and neither myself nor the first officer visually acquired the traffic. Once safely clear of the conflict we returned to our assigned heading and resumed a normal climb. After the event the tower controller yelled at the VFR traffic and stated that it had not followed instructions and strayed into the runway 9 departure path. This controller did a great job in helping us avoid a collision. I estimate the closest point of approach to the traffic was about 1.5 miles as we climbed through his altitude which was about 700 AGL. Due to the extremely low altitude of the encounter (<500 ft); the TA/RA and voice annunciation functions of the TCAS were inhibited.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-700 departing in moderate rain and limited visibility maneuvered at low altitude in response to a traffic advisory by the Tower and a TCAS traffic symbol at their 12 o'clock and two miles.

Narrative: Tower cleared us for takeoff with an initial heading of 360 degrees. Takeoff roll was uneventful; however; rain intensity increased to moderate right after rotation. Tower then instructed us to turn north as soon as able. First Officer acknowledged ATC's instruction. At this moment we were less than 200 AGL in limited visibility so I continued on runway heading. The Tower then called out traffic at our 12 o'clock and 2 miles. I observed the traffic on TCAS and began an immediate left turn while climbing through 300 FT. The rain intensity was moderate to heavy at this point and neither myself nor the First Officer visually acquired the traffic. Once safely clear of the conflict we returned to our assigned heading and resumed a normal climb. After the event the Tower Controller yelled at the VFR traffic and stated that it had not followed instructions and strayed into the Runway 9 departure path. This Controller did a great job in helping us avoid a collision. I estimate the closest point of approach to the traffic was about 1.5 miles as we climbed through his altitude which was about 700 AGL. Due to the extremely low altitude of the encounter (<500 FT); the TA/RA and voice annunciation functions of the TCAS were inhibited.

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.

Attributes
ACN	984111
Time
Date	201112
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Conflict Airborne Conflict
Miss Distance	Horizontal 9000 Vertical 0

A B737-700 departing in moderate rain and limited visibility maneuvered at low altitude in response to a traffic advisory by the tower and a TCAS traffic symbol at their 12 o'clock and two miles.