MD82 INITIATES EVASIVE TCASII MANEUVER DUE TO OPPOSITE DIRECTION; SAME ALT TFC.

Narrative

WE WERE IN CRUISE FLT AT FL330 ON THE CYPRESS 3 ARR. AS WE (ACFT X) PROGRESSED ON THE STAR TO MIA; I MENTIONED TO THE CAPT THAT WE SEEMED A BIT HIGH TO MAKE OUR EXPECTED XING RESTR AT THE POINT ON THE STAR. I ASKED CTR FOR LOWER; AND DIDN'T HEAR A RESPONSE. I TRIED AGAIN; ONLY TO HEAR ANOTHER PLT RESPOND; 'BLOCKED.' I LISTENED FOR A FEW SECONDS AND REALIZED THAT WE COULD ONLY HEAR PLTS XMITTING; NOT THE CTLRS. I FIGURED THAT THE PREVIOUS SECTOR HAD FORGOTTEN TO HAND US OFF AND WE FLEW OUT OF THEIR RANGE; SO THE CAPT AND I BOTH LOOKED FOR A ZMA FREQ ON THE CHART. WE PICKED ONE AT RANDOM AND I MADE CONTACT. HE ASKED OUR POS. I REPLIED THAT WE WERE AT FL330 APCHING THE CYY VOR. HE TOLD US TO SWITCH TO ANOTHER FREQ. AS I CHKED IN; THE CTLR ASKED OUR POS. I TOLD HIM WE WERE TURNING OVER THE CYY VOR ON THE ARR AT FL330. ABOUT THAT TIME; THE TCASII ANNOUNCED 'TFC!' AND SHOWED A TARGET AT 12 O'CLOCK AND ABOUT 8 MI AT OUR ALT. THE CTLR AGAIN ASKED OUR POS AND I REPEATED MY PREVIOUS XMISSION. THE TCASII THEN GAVE US AN RA; COMMANDING US TO DSND. THE CAPT DISENGAGED THE AUTOPLT AND DSNDED ABOUT 700 FT; TO FL323. WE ALSO HAD VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE AIRPLANE (ACFT Y) TRAVELING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AT FL330. I ESTIMATE OUR HORIZ SEPARATION TO BE ABOUT 1 MI. ONCE THE TFC WAS PAST US; WE CLBED BACK TO FL330. I TOLD THE CTLR THAT WE HAD AN RA. THE CTLR DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS; BUT INSTEAD TOLD US TO EXPEDITE DOWN TO FL240. ON THE ARR; THE CTLR GAVE US A SERIES OF S-TURNS TO MAKE THE XING POINT. THE CTLR THEN TOLD US TO CALL THEM ONCE WE GOT ON THE GND. WE LANDED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. THE CAPT SPOKE TO A SUPVR ON THE PHONE. HIS MAIN CONCERN SEEMED TO BE WHY THE CTLR DIDN'T KEEP THE OTHER ACFT OUT OF OUR WAY; SINCE THEY WEREN'T TALKING TO US IN THE MOMENTS BEFORE THE TFC CONFLICT. WE TOLD HIM OUR SIDE OF THE STORY. HE THANKED US FOR THE INFO.