2021-11 · NASA ASRS report 1854851
Flight crew reported an NMAC while on final approach. The crew stated that NMACs seem to be a common problem at the airport due to the high volume of VFR traffic.
We were on vectors west of the RNAV 19 approach at 3;000 ft. We were given direct to UNVIL; maintain 3;000 ft. In this area we are normally at 2;000 ft.; but I believe we were at a higher altitude due to traffic in the area below us. Approaching UNVIL we were given; 'Cross UNVIL at or above 2;000; cleared RNAV 19; expedite to 2;000.' I set 2;000 in the ASEL and the Pilot Flying (PF) set path down to expedite to 2;000. Around 2;600; Approach said; 'Cancel approach clearance; maintain 3;000; turn right 270.' I set 3;000 in the ASEL and the PF reversed the descent into a climb and started the right turn. We got to about +1 degree path up when we got an RA to descend. The PF disconnected the autopilot to comply with the RA; but we immediately got the reversal RA; 'Climb; climb now;' to which we complied. This all happened during my initial readback of the cancel approach clearance. Approach gave us a further turn to 360. During my readback I said that we were complying with an RA. We were given a 360 vector back to join RNAV and landed without further incident.The closest I saw the target on TCAS was -200 ft. During vectoring I believe I saw the offending aircraft which would have been within a couple hundred feet of us horizontally. This is a known area of high TCAS events; due to VFR traffic transiting. Lowering the shelf of Class B in the area would give controllers the airspace and separation they need to establish aircraft on approaches to 19. Crews should be vigilant of uncontrolled VFR aircraft transiting the area.
We were on the RNAV GPS Y Runway 19 when we received an RA after crossing UNVIL on the approach. We were descending through 2;700 on the approach when Clearance told us to cancel approach clearance and turn westbound and maintain 3;000. We received the initial RA; 'Increase descent;' immediately followed by a; 'Climb; climb now.' We followed the RA procedure and received the clear of conflict shortly after. We advised ATC of the RA and we were vectored back around to commence the approach again with no issues.I would suggest they take a look at maybe lowering the Class B shelf around TEB or extending the TEB Class D for the most used approaches so we are not descending into VFR traffic. It is a very busy and congested airspace to begin with and dealing with VFR traffic that are not talking to ATC on a critical phase of flight can be dangerous.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
Loading the flight search…
Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.
We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.
Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.
Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.