AN A320 CAPT RESPONDED TO A TCASII RA; WHILE ON APCH TO RWY 16L AT DEN.
Synopsis
AN A320 CAPT RESPONDED TO A TCASII RA; WHILE ON APCH TO RWY 16L AT DEN.
Narrative
WE WERE ON APCH INTO DENVER; IN A R DOWNWIND FOR RWY 16L. WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO MAKE OUR TURN TO FINAL ABOVE 8000 FT; AND CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO RWY 16L. I TURNED BASE LEG AT 9200 FT; AND STARTED MY TURN TO FINAL ABOVE 8000 FT. I NOTICED AN ACFT APCHING FROM THE E AND HAD MY FO QUESTION THE CTLR AS TO WHERE HE WAS GOING. WHEN MY FO ASKED US WHAT THE OTHER ACFT WAS DOING; THE CTLR STATED HE WAS ON AN APCH TO RWY 16R. THIS LED TO SOME CONFUSION; AS THIS WOULD MEAN WE WERE GOING TO CROSS PATHS AND CREATE A CONFLICT IN THE EXECUTION OF OUR APCH. I TIGHTENED THE TURN TO FINAL AND MADE A MODIFIED DOGLEG. I TRIED TO CROSS IN FRONT OF THIS ACFT; AND CREATE MORE SEPARATION. I ASKED THE FO TO QUESTION THE CTLR AGAIN; SINCE THE RWY HE CLAIMED THIS ACFT WAS GOING TO WAS CLOSED. IT WAS AT THIS POINT; WE GOT A 'CLB' RA. WE FOLLOWED THE RA GUIDANCE AND CLRED THE CONFLICT; WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE A SEPARATE ACFT THAT WAS BELOW US; ON APCH TO RWY 16R. WHEN WE TOLD THE APCH CTLR WE WERE FOLLOWING A TCASII RA; HE TOLD US HE HAD INSTRUCTED US TO MAINTAIN 8000 FT UNTIL ON FINAL. UPON LOOKING AT OUR ALT; WE WERE NOW AT 7500 FT. AFTER FOLLOWING THE TCASII; I DETERMINED THAT A SAFE APCH AND LNDG COULD STILL BE MADE; AND LANDED THE PLANE. ALL SOP'S WERE FOLLOWED. THE FO STATED THAT OUR CLOSEST VERT SEPARATION WAS 200 FT. THE OTHER ACFT THAT CAUSED OUR TCASII RA; WAS AN FAA KING AIR; CONDUCTING PRACTICE APCHS TO RWY 16R. IT WAS NEVER POINTED OUT TO US UNTIL WE HAD OUR TCASII EVENT. I BELIEVE SOME CONFUSION EXISTED THAT WE WERE UNAWARE OF. WE WERE WATCHING 1 ACFT; WHILE THE CTLR ASSUMED WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE OTHER ACFT; WHICH HE HAD NOT TOLD US ABOUT. ALSO; SOME CONFUSION EXISTED AS TO THE ALT WE WERE TO MAINTAIN. I UNDERSTOOD MY INSTRUCTIONS TO BE THAT I COULD START DSCNT BELOW 8000 FT AFTER I STARTED MY TURN TO FINAL. IN RETROSPECT; I BELIEVE THE CTLR WANTED US ABOVE 8000 FT UNTIL ON FINAL. SO THERE WAS A COM ISSUE THAT WAS INVOLVED. HOWEVER; THE ISSUE THAT IS MORE DISTURBING TO ME IS THAT WE WERE CLRED FOR A VISUAL APCH; TO CROSS OVER AN ACFT THAT WAS NEVER POINTED OUT TO US; THAT WAS CONDUCTING AN APCH TO A RWY THAT WAS CLOSED AND UNLIT. I BELIEVE ERRORS WERE MADE BY BOTH THE CREW AND THE CTLR; OURS BEING THAT WE GOT DISTR BY BOTH EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CONFLICTS; AND DSNDED BELOW 8000 FT. THE CTLR ERRED BY NOT POINTING OUT AN ACFT THAT WAS TO CROSS OUR PATH IN CLOSE PROX; WHILE MAKING AN APCH TO A RWY THAT IS NOTAMED CLOSED; WHILE CLRING US FOR A VISUAL APCH.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.