B727 CREW HAD TCASII RA IN MSY CLASS E.

Narrative

OUR FLT WAS DSNDING INTO NEW ORLEANS WHEN WE WERE ISSUED THE FOLLOWING CLRNC: 'HOLD OUTBOUND ON THE 360 DEG RADIAL OF RESERVE (RQR); R TURNS; 10 NM LEGS; MAINTAIN 11000 FT.' NO EFC WAS ISSUED. SHORTLY THEREAFTER WE WERE CLRED TO 10000 FT. THERE WAS A LEVEL 5 CUMULO NIMBUS RIGHT OVER THE FIELD. THE NON STANDARD PHRASEOLOGY WAS QUITE CONFUSING TO OUR CREW AS WELL AS ACR Z FLT ISSUED THE SAME CLRNC. ACR Z REVERTED TO A PLAIN ENGLISH READBACK TO EXPLAIN THE EXACT GND TRACK THEY INTENDED TO FLY. TO EMPHASIZE A POINT I CLARIFIED TO THE CTLR AND THE OTHER HOLDING ACFT THAT; 'WE NEVER HOLD OUTBOUND; WE ALWAYS HOLD INBOUND TO A POINT.' MY MOTIVE HERE WAS FOR THE SEVERAL ACFT THAT JUST ENTERED THIS HOLDING PATTERN TO TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT THEIR CLRNC. I MENTION THIS NON STANDARD PHRASEOLOGY AND CONFUSION ONLY BECAUSE I AM STILL UNSURE IF IT PRECIPITATED THE EVENT OR NOT. I ASKED THE FO TO TURN THE WX RADAR OFF AND ADJUST THE TCASII TO 10 NM TO GET A BETTER TCASII PRESENTATION THAN THE WX RADAR ALLOWS. WE BEGAN OUR DIRECT ENTRY TO THE HOLDING PATTERN WITH A R TURN. THE 3 OF US IMMEDIATELY SAW A TARGET AT 1 O'CLOCK POS; 700 FT ABOVE US DSNDING AT ABOUT 5 MI. I ROLLED OUT OF THE TURN AS IT APPEARED WE WERE TURNING INTO HIM. THE TARGET RAPIDLY WENT 600 FT; 500 FT; 400 FT; AMBER AT 300 FT AT WHICH TIME WE GOT A 'TFC; TFC.' 3 SETS OF EYES ATTEMPTED TO ACQUIRE VISUAL CONTACT UNSUCCESSFULLY. THERE WERE SMALL CUMULUS CLOUDS BTWN US AND THE TARGET. AT WHAT APPEARED TO BE 1/2 MI ON THE 10 NM SCOPE OF THE TCASII THE TARGET WENT RED AND WE GOT AN AURAL 'DSND; DSND; NOW!;' FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY 'DSND; DSND; DSND! ' AND 'INCREASE DSCNT INCREASE DSCNT!' THE RAPID AND PROGRESSIVE INCREASE OF TCASII ALERTS GAVE US THE FEELING THAT AN ACFT WAS DSNDING ON US AND WAS GOING TO HIT US. DURING THESE AURAL WARNINGS I EXECUTED AN ABRUPT L DSNDING TURN HAVING SEEN THE TARGET AT 1 O'CLOCK POS AT 1/4 NM ON THE TCASII AS I ROLLED INTO A 40-45 DEG L BANK AND A 20-25 DEG NOSE LOW TURN. AFTER DSNDING LESS THAN 1000 FT WE GOT 'REDUCE DSCNT; REDUCE DSCNT' FOLLOWED BY 'CLR OF CONFLICT.' WE ROLLED OUT OF THE TURN AND SAW AN ACR Y; MD80 DSNDING RIGHT OVER THE TOP OF US BY APPROX 1000 FT. HE DID NOT ENTER HOLDING AND APPEARED TO MAINTAIN HEADING AND DSCNT. I PICKED UP THE INTERCOM AND ASKED THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT; 'WERE THERE ANY INJURIES; DAMAGE; OR FEAR?' TO MY AMAZEMENT SHE SAID 'NO.' I CONSIDERED THIS A VIOLENT EVASIVE MANEUVER; BUT APPARENTLY DROPPING THE NOSE AS MUCH AS I DID PUT JUST ENOUGH 'G' IN THE MANEUVER TO COUNTER THE UNCOMFORTABLE BANK AND VERT LIMITS I APPLIED. MY CREW AND I FEEL THAT WITHOUT TCASII THIS ACR Y; MD80; WOULD HAVE HIT US. THERE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TIME TO REACT AT THE 500+ NM GND SPD CLOSURE RATE WE HAD. WE ESTIMATE FROM OUR TCASII THAT THE MINIMUM SEPARATION WAS 200 FT VERT AND 1/4 NM HORIZ. WE REENTERED THE HOLDING PATTERN AND HELD FOR ANOTHER 20 MINS. DURING THIS TIME I WAS LISTENING TO TWR FREQ AND AS IT TURNS OUT THE SAME ACR Y; MD80; FLT XXXX WAS SHOOTING AN ILS TO RWY 10. THE WX AT THE TIME WAS 1/4 NM AND HVY RAIN. HE WENT AROUND AT 300 FT AFTER EXPERIENCING A 20 KT LOSS OF AIRSPD. AFTER HEARING THIS I ASKED APCH CTL IF THERE WAS ANY PERCEIVED MOVEMENT TO THE CELL. HE SAID THERE WAS NOT. WE WERE 10 MINS FROM OUR 'BINGO FUEL;' SO IN AN EFFORT TO BEAT THE CROWD WE ELECTED TO DIVERT TO IAH. WE CAME BACK 2 HRS LATER AND MADE AN UNEVENTFUL APCH AND LNDG AT MSY. I CALLED THE MSY APCH CTL SUPVR; AND INDICATED I WOULD BE FILING A RPT AND TO SAVE ALL SUPPORTING DATA. HE SAID THEY HAD BEEN 'TALKING ABOUT THIS INCIDENT ALL AFTERNOON; AND THE DATA WAS SAVED.' I TOLD HIM THAT; 'WE CAME VERY CLOSE TO LOSING 2 ACFT OVER MSY TODAY.'