MODE C JUMP OCCURS WHENEVER A DISCRETE BEACON CODE ACFT GETS CLOSE.

1992-11 · NASA ASRS report 226476

Date: 1992-11 · Aircraft: Medium Large Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng

Anomalies: deviation-altitude-undershoot|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|other-unspecified

Synopsis

MODE C JUMP OCCURS WHENEVER A DISCRETE BEACON CODE ACFT GETS CLOSE.

Narrative

ACR X; AN MLG; WAS DSNDING FROM 14000 FT TO 10000 FT ON A COURSE FROM BANDS INTXN DIRECT TO KAYOH INTXN; ENRTE TO LGB. THIS RTE PASSES APPROX 2 MI N OF HDF ON A 245 DEG BEARING. AS ACR X WAS APCHING 11000 FT; HE ADVISED ATC HE WAS CLBING FOR A TCASII RA. AS I LOOKED AT THE RADAR FOR TFC; I OBSERVED THE MODE C OF A 1200 (VFR) BEACON CODE CHANGE FROM 2700 FT MSL TO 10700 FT MSL IN ONE SWEEP OF THE RADAR. THIS OCCURRED WHEN THE TARGETS WERE ABOUT 2 MI; OR LESS; APART. THE ACFT ON THE 1200 BEACON CODE WAS A USAF MLT Y IN THE PATTERN AT RIV (MARCH AFB). AS SOON AS THE TARGETS PASSED EACH OTHER; THE MLT'S MODE C INDICATED 2500 FT MSL. ACR X STATED HE NEVER SAW ANY TFC. ABOUT 9 MONTHS AGO THIS PHENOMENA WAS A RATHER COMMON EVENT. FREQUENTLY; WHEN WORKING AN IFR ACFT; I WOULD OBSERVE THAT THE MODE C OF A 1200 BEACON CODE ACFT WOULD SUDDENLY JUMP FROM A LOW ALT TO A HIGHER ALT NEARLY APPROXIMATING THE MODE C OF THE IFR ACFT. THIS WOULD ONLY OCCUR WHEN THE 2 ACFT WOULD REACH A POINT WHERE THE TARGETS WERE ABOUT TO MERGE. ONCE THE TARGETS PASSED EACH OTHER; THE MODE C OF THE 1200 BEACON CODE ACFT WOULD RETURN TO NORMAL. IT APPEARS THAT THIS PROB MAY HAVE RETURNED. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT THE MODE C JUMP OCCURS MAYBE ONCE A DAY; OR POSSIBLY ONCE A WK. IT ONLY HAPPENS WHEN THERE IS ANOTHER ACFT APCHING ON A DISCRETE BEACON CODE. IT IS NOT RESTR TO ONLY MIL ACFT; BUT ALSO INVOLVES OTHER TYPES. NO CONFLICTS HAVE BEEN RPTED; BUT RPTR FEELS THAT ONE MAY IF THE CTLR OR PLT REACT TO THE FALSE TRACK JUMP. FACILITY HAS AN ASR-9 SYS THAT HAS BEEN IN SVC FOR ABOUT 1 MONTH. THE MODE C JUMP PROB HAS BEEN ONGOING FOR ABOUT 1 YR. DOESN'T THINK THAT A UCR HAS BEEN FILED ON THIS; AND NOT SURE IF FACILITY MGR IS AWARE OF IT.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

Loading the flight search…

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

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.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

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.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

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.

Where does the route data come from?

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.