ZAB CTLR EXPERIENCED NEAR LOSS OF SEPARATION AT FL370; SAVED BY TCASII; AFTER HDOF OF CONFLICTING TFC TO ANOTHER SECTOR.

Narrative

WE WERE WBOUND AT FL380 (COPLT AT CTLS). IN CONTINUOUS LIGHT CHOP WE REQUESTED A LOWER ALT FROM ZAB; AND WERE CLRED TO DSND TO FL360. I OBSERVED A TCASII TFC TARGET ON MY NAV DISPLAY 10 NM IN FRONT OF US; AND 1000 FT BELOW US. INITIALLY; I THOUGHT THE TFC WAS PROBABLY WBOUND ALSO BECAUSE NORMALLY 1) CTR WON'T ALLOW DSCNT THROUGH ONCOMING TFC; AND 2) CTR ALLOWS DSCNT THROUGH SAME DIRECTION TFC ONLY WITH GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 10 NM SEPARATION. MY NAV DISPLAY WAS IN 160 NM RANGE. HAD I BEEN IN A SHORTER RANGE; THE CLOSURE OF THE ONCOMING TFC WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE IMMEDIATELY APPARENT; AND WE PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE DSNDED. WHEN I SELECTED A SHORTER RANGE ON MY NAV DISPLAY; I SAW APPARENT CLOSURE. I IMMEDIATELY TOLD THE COPLT; 'LEVEL OFF!' AT THE SAME TIME I LOOKED OUT THE WIND SCREEN AND SAW THE ONCOMING TFC DIRECTLY IN FRONT AND BELOW US. WE HAD DSNDED APPROX 200-300 FT. THE COPLT HAD GRABBED THE YOKE TO PULL BACK (THE AUTOPLT WAS ON) AND RIGHT AFTER I HAD SAID 'LEVEL OFF' WE GOT A TCASII RA FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY AN RA COMMANDING US TO 'CLB; CLB.' THE COPLT DISCONNECTED THE AUTOPLT IN ACCORDANCE WITH RA PROC AND CLBED UNTIL THE RA CEASED AT APPROX FL384. AFTER WE WERE STABILIZED; I TOLD THE CTLR ABOUT THE RA. SHE SAID SOMEHOW SHE HAD LOST THE TFC AT FL370 BEFORE CLRING US TO DSND. THE MD10 HAD ALREADY SWITCHED TO ZKC AND HIS DATA BLOCK APPARENTLY HAD BEEN DROPPED FROM THE ABQ SCOPES. LESSONS FOR ME: CLRING THE FLT PATH IS PARAMOUNT FOR SAFE RVSM OPS! CLOSURE MAY NOT BE PERCEPTIBLE FROM TCASII WITH HIGH RANGES SELECTED ON NAV DISPLAY. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS; VISUAL LOOKOUT; AND TCASII SAVED US FROM A CERTAIN COLLISION. CTR HDOF GLITCHES?