NMAC BTWN A FAIRCHILD SWEARINGEN SA227AC SCHEDULED ACR AND A CESSNA CITATION OPERATED BY THE GOV ON AN INTERCEPT MANEUVER TO RPTR. RPTR TOOK EVASIVE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO A TCASII RA WHICH ALARMED THE PAX. RPTR ADVISED ARTCC THAT HE WAS GOING TO BRING 'MEDIA' PUBLIC ATTN TO THIS MATTER IF THE TCASII INTRUDER DID NOT 'BACK OFF!' IT DID!

Date: 1997-03 · Aircraft: SA-227 AC Metro III

Anomalies: conflict-nmac|other-unspecified

Synopsis

NMAC BTWN A FAIRCHILD SWEARINGEN SA227AC SCHEDULED ACR AND A CESSNA CITATION OPERATED BY THE GOV ON AN INTERCEPT MANEUVER TO RPTR. RPTR TOOK EVASIVE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO A TCASII RA WHICH ALARMED THE PAX. RPTR ADVISED ARTCC THAT HE WAS GOING TO BRING 'MEDIA' PUBLIC ATTN TO THIS MATTER IF THE TCASII INTRUDER DID NOT 'BACK OFF!' IT DID!

Narrative

19 SEAT ACR WITH 2 CREW AND 10 PAX WAS CRUISING ENRTE TO FT LAUDERDALE INTL ARPT AT 16500 FT ON A DVFR FLT PLAN WITH VISIBILITY OVER 10 MI. WE WERE MONITORING ZMA BUT NOT COMMUNICATING WITH CTLR. FLT WAS SMOOTH. ABOUT 60 MI BEFORE PENETRATING THE ADIZ; WE PICKED UP A CODE OF XXXX FROM MIAMI FLT SVC FOR CUSTOMS IDENT AS IS ROUTINE PROC. ABOUT 40 MI FROM PENETRATION; WHILE STILL IN BAHAMIAN AIRSPACE; OUR TCASII SHOWED NO OTHER TFC IN OUR AREA. THEN THE TCASII SOUNDED A TFC ALERT AND SHOWED A TARGET IN OUR IMMEDIATE VICINITY AND AT OUR ALT. THE FO WAS PF. HE REACTED WITH A VIOLENT PULL-UP THAT CAUSED THE PAX TO BECOME VERY DISTRESSED. THE TCASII TARGET STAYED WITH US. I INSTRUCTED THE FO TO LEVEL THE ACFT. I THEN CALLED THE CTR CTLR TO CONFIRM MY SUSPICIONS THAT THE TARGET WAS A UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SVC ACFT ON AN INTERCEPT. AGAINST ATC POLICY; THE CTLR VERIFIED THAT THE TARGET WAS A CUSTOMS ACFT. KNOWING THAT CUSTOMS MONITORS THE FREQ; I ASKED HIM TO BACK OFF OR I WOULD HAVE DISPATCH CONTACT ALL THE LCL MEDIA TO MEET US UPON LNDG. THE ACFT DEPARTED. THIS SIT IS SIMILAR TO THE 4 NEAR-MISSES THAT GROUNDED THE MIL IN JAN 1997. OTHER COMMUTER ACRS OPERATING TO THE ISLANDS HAVE HAD THE SAME SIT. PVT PLTS HAVE BEEN SCARED TO THE POINT OF NEEDING MEDICAL ASSISTANCE FOR THEIR PAX. THE CTLRS HATE THESE INTERCEPT OPS BECAUSE THERE IS NO COORD TO PREVENT A MID-AIR COLLISION. CTLRS ARE NOT FOND OF THE BELLS AND ALARMS THAT THESE OPS SET OFF. THESE DISTRACTIONS IMPINGE ON SAFETY. (CUSTOMS ROUTINELY CRUISES THEIR CITATION JETS AT 400 KTS LOW LEVEL.) PREVENTION OF THESE SITS WILL NOT HAPPEN UNTIL CUSTOMS IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEM. BECAUSE CUSTOMS ACFT ARE PUBLIC SVC; THE FAA IS EXTREMELY LIMITED IN ITS RECOURSE. RULE CHANGES ARE NEEDED TO MAKE CUSTOMS ADHERE TO SOLUTIONS. WHEN INTERCEPTING ACRS EQUIPPED WITH TCASII; CUSTOMS SHOULD TURN OFF THEIR XPONDERS WHEN TARGET IS ACQUIRED VISUALLY. CUSTOMS DOES NOT NEED TO BE 10 FT FROM TARGET TO READ THE 12 INCH HIGH REGISTRATION NUMBERS THAT ARE REQUIRED. (ADDITIONALLY; OUR ACFT HAVE THE AIRLINE'S NAME IN 12 INCH LETTERS ON BOTH SIDES; VISIBLE FROM 1/4 MI.) BETTER COORD WITH ATC WOULD EASE THE CTLR'S TENSIONS. A RECOURSE FOR THE FAA TO BRING ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST THE CUSTOMS SVC PLTS WOULD BRING IMMEDIATE COOPERATION FROM THIS GROUP OF 'COWBOYS WITH TAXPAYER TOYS.'

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