2003-11 · NASA ASRS report 600170
ACR ON VISUAL APCH TO DEN EXPERIENCED TCASII RA WITH ATC ISSUED TFC.
WE WERE ON APCH TO RWY 35R AT DEN. APCH CTL CLRED US TO 7500 FT AND THEN CLRED US FOR A VISUAL APCH. FO DSNDED TO 7000 FT WHICH IS ALT FOR FAF (FRONZ). ATC CALLED TFC WHICH WE DID NOT SEE AND THEN TOLD US TO TURN L TO 270 DEG HDG TO AVOID TFC. IN THE TURN WE GOT AN RA TO 'CLB' AND FO STARTED AN IMMEDIATE CLB. I THEN SAW A LIGHT ACFT BELOW AND STRAIGHT AHEAD. IT'S POSSIBLE THAT WE WERE BELOW THE TCA FLOOR OR THE LIGHT ACFT WAS IN THE CLASS B AIRSPACE. LOOKING AT THE COMMERCIAL CHART PAGE LATER ON; I BELIEVE WE WERE IN AN AREA WITH A 7000 FT FLOOR (MAYBE EVEN 6500 FT). ADDING TO THE CONFUSION WAS THE FACT THAT DEN CHANGED OUR RWY 2 TIMES -- RWY 26 TO RWY 35L TO RWY 35R. SO WE HAD A VERY HIGH WORKLOAD. ALTHOUGH ATC CAN BE EXTREMELY BUSY; THEY ARE INTIMATELY FAMILIAR WITH THEIR OWN AIRSPACE; AND I WOULD THINK WE COULD BE WARNED IF WE GOT TOO LOW. (COULD THE CTLR'S SCREEN GIVE HIM A WARNING IF WE WERE TOO LOW?) WE MIGHT ONLY FLY INTO ANY GIVEN ARPT A FEW TIMES A YR; YET WE ARE EXPECTED TO DYNAMICALLY INTERP THE INFO FROM THAT SMALL COMMERCIAL CHART PAGE. (IMPOSSIBLE IF YOU GET 2 RWY CHANGES!)
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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