A B757 RECEIVES A TCASII TA OVER DOWNEY INTXN GOING INTO LAX. CAPT IS CRITICAL OF CTLR'S PROCS THAT ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN.
Synopsis
A B757 RECEIVES A TCASII TA OVER DOWNEY INTXN GOING INTO LAX. CAPT IS CRITICAL OF CTLR'S PROCS THAT ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN.
Narrative
AN ACR B737 (FLT CC) PASSED THROUGH OUR ALT IN A STEEP R TURN AT ABOUT 1 NM TRIGGERING A TCASII ALERT. IN A DISCUSSION WITH SOCAL APCH (RADAR CTLR) IT WAS STATED THAT ALTHOUGH 'NORMAL' RADAR SEPARATION IS 3 NM AND 1000 FT VERTLY; THAT CRITERIA CAN BE IGNORED IF ACFT HAVE A 15 DEG COURSE DIVERGENCE. 1) THIS IS NOT A VERY SAFE WAY TO OPERATE. THE ACR FLT WAS STILL IN A TURN WHEN HE WENT BY ME. WHAT IF HE DIDN'T TURN? 2) HAVING COMMERCIAL AIRLINERS (WITH 250 PEOPLE AND LIVES AT STAKE!) PASSING WITHIN 1 MI OF EACH OTHER AT 250 KTS WITHOUT BOTH HAVING THE OTHER IN SIGHT IS NOT VERY SMART (WE WERE NEVER EVEN ADVISED OF ACR'S PRESENCE UNTIL WE INQUIRED ABOUT THE ACFT OFF OUR L). THIS '15 DEG COURSE' RULE IS ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS WHEN A SIT LIKE OURS OCCURS (IE; LAX DEPARTING ACFT E; ARRS COMING FROM THE E HEADED INBOUND ON THE RECIPROCAL COURSE OF THE DEPS). CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR IS CONCERNED THAT ACFT ARE FLYING TOO CLOSE TOGETHER. ALL CLRNCS AND SEPARATIONS ARE PROPER; BUT; HE FEELS THAT WITH LARGE ACFT BEING FLOWN; ACFT ARE TOO CLOSE TOGETHER. HE ISN'T CERTAIN THAT OTHER ACFT WILL TURN WHEN SUPPOSED TO; OR THAT A 15 DEG DIVERGENCE IS A GOOD IDEA. HE REALLY WANTS MORE SEPARATION AROUND HIM AND OTHER ACFT. ALTHOUGH THE OTHER ACFT WAS TALKING TO TRACON; EACH ACFT WAS ON A DIFFERENT FREQ; SO THIS RPTR COULD NOT GAIN ANY INFO REGARDING THE OTHER ACFT.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.