Mid Air Collision here in FL

[ShawnC]

Well there appears to have been a mid-air collision here in Florida. One of the plane cashed into a swamp, both on board dead.

The other aircraft made an emergency landing on a highway, both survived, but the aircraft (appears to be a C152) looks destroyed.

Come on people mid-airs shouldn't happen in VFR. GET YOUR EYES OUT OF THE COCKPIT!!! All it takes is one of those two with a good scan the accident probally could have been averted and two people could have come home tonight.

On another note, is it just me or do the news agencies have a script for planes crashes, at the end of the report the local news said "The cause has not been determined..." I mean I think I can guess what made the planes crash, maybe they had a little collision.

 

[starvingcfi]

anyone know where it happened? looked around online for some info. couldn't find anything. aircraft bases?

 

[maverick_fp00]

I used to work at a news station up until about 3 months ago so I still have the hookup with the latest news and stuff like that. I called and old friend who was still at work and she told me that her sources were saying it was in Broward County, Fl and no information about aircraft or airplane bases were being given out as of yet. They are still trying to find out who the relatives are, etc...

 

[maverick_fp00]

http://www.click10.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-174216220021027-091013.html

Check that out... came from an ABC sister station...


woops... that's another plane crash I believe...

 

[Bataan]

Here's a link to it, I hope it works. I fly out there, and it IS a busy place. Very sad.


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...ct28,0,6425143.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

 

[avbug]

Shawn,

If you stop and think about it, the most likely place for a midair is a VFR flight, and it's most often in visual conditions. Second most common is an airplane operating under VFR and an airplane operating under IFR...usually in visual conditions.

Aircraft operating under IFR very seldom collide. The system as a rule is too regimented, and more rigid separation standards and practices exist.

So long as we have folks who reach for their microphones and ask "any inbound traffic please advise", instead of looking out the window, we'll continue to have them.

Sometimes such events just happen. Put enough airplanes in the sky, and it happens. Several days ago, it was two F-16's.

If you think about it, the first automobile collision occured when there were exactly two automobiles on the face of the earth...and they collided into each other. Mix a lot of airplanes into the same airspace, all hurdling along at high speeds, all with massive blind spots, and many with low experience and poor training these days...the real shocker is that we don't see a lot more mid-airs.

Ask most experienced professionals what their biggest concern or fear is in flight, and you'll usually get the same response; a mid-air collision, most likely with a private pilot weekend-flyer type.

 

[dogg]

Anyone that thinks for a minute that looking outside is going to prevent a midair is a rookie or spending to much time with the crack pipe. See and avoid sounds good but the truth is that there is too much traffic and it is way to easy if you are on a collision course with another aircraft to miss them. The traffic you can see is not going to hit you. It has movement relative to your position and that is why you can see it. See and avoid helps but as anyone who has spent time with TCAS will tell you, the majority of aircraft that you see on TCAS including the ones that cause RA's you never see. So I caution all of you who would lay the blame on "not looking outside" that your point of view is simplistic at best.........

 

[ArmyPilot]

I agree

Dogg,

I couldn't agree more. Almost all TCAS alerts that I get are from aircraft I never saw. Looking outside and keeping up a good scan is great but in a high workload cockpit (down low, and slow) it is not always that easy.

 

[NJA Capt]

Anyone that thinks for a minute that looking outside is going to prevent a midair is a rookie or spending to much time with the crack pipe. See and avoid sounds good but the truth is that there is too much traffic and it is way to easy if you are on a collision course with another aircraft to miss them. The traffic you can see is not going to hit you. It has movement relative to your position and that is why you can see it. See and avoid helps but as anyone who has spent time with TCAS will tell you, the majority of aircraft that you see on TCAS including the ones that cause RA's you never see. So I caution all of you who would lay the blame on "not looking outside" that your point of view is simplistic at best.........

I cannot believe you made that statement. You can hit traffic you can see. Furthermore, MOST of the traffic on TCAS is never a factor. It's the minority few that you worry about.

Remember the two Riddle pilots a few years ago that ran into each other in the pattern? One just over ran the other and cut the tail off. See and avoid is the best tool you have notwithstanding TCAS. Which I do have considerable time with.
I have seen TCAS targets evolve into 172s and Cherokees that I "saw and avoided." When I passed them (plural encounters) each pilot(s) had their head in their lap and not looking outside. Think about it. They had a jet aircraft doing 200-250kts within 500-1000' of their ship, AND NEVER KNEW I WAS THERE!

I was/am a CFI/IA/MEI, I know what goes on in a training environment. But, someone has to be looking outside the aircraft. If you are solo, minimize your time looking down. Don't plan a whole cross-country flight in your lap and only look outside in time to land.

****Note to CFIs in Eastern Florida****
Please be aware of where you are doing airwork/approaches. Look at a high altitude chart and see where the airways intersect the coast. Yes, they are for above 18,000. However, these are the routes the jets are filed and they may be BELOW FL180 on these routes. We are also given Victor airways above FL180, go figure. I once had to deviate for an ATP (which we could read on the tail) Seminole off the coast doing airwork "on the airway." I asked for vectors not to fly right under him because we SAW him doing turns. We turned and darn if he didn't turn toward us again. Just because you are offshore doesn't make you safe. We are looking for you, but please look for US.

**ALL CFIs**
Don't do VFR airwork in and IFR approach corridor. Nothing like getting a TCAS warning because someone is doing steep turns near the final approach fix. Situational awareness. Take a look at IFR charts/approach plates and VFR charts for your local area and see where conflicts may arise.

VFR midairs do usually happen in VFR near an airport. The best tool you have is your eyes. Keep them outside as much as possible.

Regards,
NJA Capt

 

[temcgrew]

"So long as we have folks who reach for their microphones and ask "any inbound traffic please advise", instead of looking out the window, we'll continue to have them."

I do that all of the time becouse when we are 5 minutes away from a non controlled airport, you usually don't see the airport much less the traffic that is buzzing around the airport.
in that environment I would say that it would be wise to talk on the radio if you can't see and avoid, maybe you can hear and avoid!!