AN ACR MD80 SAW AN F14 FLT AT WHAT APPEARED TO BE AT HIS ALT OF FL270. THE CAPT CHKED HIS TCASII AND IT INDICATED 1000 FT SEPARATION AND GAVE NO ALERT. THE CAPT WAS ABOUT TO TAKE EVASIVE ACTION BASED ON HIS VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE F14'S; BUT THEY PASSED HIS ACFT BEFORE HE COULD REACT. THE ACR CAPT AND THE FO FELT THE F14'S WERE OFF ALT. THE ARTCC RADAR CTLR SHOWED 1000 FT SEPARATION AND GOT NO OTHER INDICATION OTHERWISE. ACR RPTED AN NMAC.
Synopsis
AN ACR MD80 SAW AN F14 FLT AT WHAT APPEARED TO BE AT HIS ALT OF FL270. THE CAPT CHKED HIS TCASII AND IT INDICATED 1000 FT SEPARATION AND GAVE NO ALERT. THE CAPT WAS ABOUT TO TAKE EVASIVE ACTION BASED ON HIS VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE F14'S; BUT THEY PASSED HIS ACFT BEFORE HE COULD REACT. THE ACR CAPT AND THE FO FELT THE F14'S WERE OFF ALT. THE ARTCC RADAR CTLR SHOWED 1000 FT SEPARATION AND GOT NO OTHER INDICATION OTHERWISE. ACR RPTED AN NMAC.
Narrative
ACR X (MD80) RPTED 2 F14'S; 500 FT ABOVE HIM. ACR X WAS AT FL270; THE FGT FLT WAS SUPPOSEDLY LEVEL AT FL260. THE WINGMAN FOR THE FGT FLT THEN STATED THAT THEY WERE A LITTLE HIGH. THE MODE C ALSO SAID THE ACFT WERE FL270 AND FL260; RESPECTIVELY. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 347260: WE WERE IN LEVEL CRUISE AT FL270 WHEN I SPOTTED A FLT OF 2 F14'S AT OUR ALT MOVING R TO L. OUR HDG WAS 360 DEGS; THEIRS 270 DEGS. ACFT WERE SPOTTED APPROX 2 NM AWAY. TCASII GAVE NO ALERT BECAUSE IT SHOWED THEM AT FL260. TCASII RANGE WAS SET TO 40 NM SO I COULD NOT GET AN ACCURATE RANGE FROM US; BUT ESTIMATE CLOSEST APCH AT 3000 FT HORIZ; AND ZERO FT VERT. I DISCONNECTED AUTOPLT TO PREPARE FOR EVASIVE ACTION; BUT F14'S WENT BY TOO FAST TO REACT. LEAD ACFT WAS SLIGHTLY BELOW AND WINGMAN WAS TO LEAD'S L AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE US. THE LETTERS 'XX' WERE CLRLY VISIBLE ON THEIR TAILS. FO THOUGHT THE ACFT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABOVE US. NO EVASIVE ACTION ON F14'S PART WAS TAKEN. TOTAL TIME OF ENCOUNTER WAS 15 SECONDS. WHEN ZDC WAS QUESTIONED; THEY SAID THEY SHOWED THE FLT AT FL260. THAT WAS THE CLOSEST I HAVE EVER COME TO ANOTHER ACFT IN MY 11 YRS AT THIS AIRLINE. A NEAR MISS WAS RPTED TO ZDC; AND A CALL TO DISPATCH WAS MADE FROM LGA. WE WERE NOT ADVISED OF TFC BY ATC. COULD THEIR ALTIMETERS HAVE BEEN OFF? WE WERE SET TO 29.92. WX AT TIME WAS VFR; VISIBILITY 100+ NM.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.