Midair collision near Denver

[Cardinal]

Wright, the point you make is interesting. What you say strikes me as technically true but sletchy on a practical level. Colliding with another airplane is of course illegal, as the poor Baron pilot on this board discovered. Yet if a crew puts forward their best, earnest effort to see and avoid they can still manage to run into one another. These were both single pilot aircraft. It only takes one guy with his head down copying the ATIS to complete the "traffic collision" chain.

cjh, Thanks.

 

[brucek]

NTSB on the Denver midair.

The NTSB has released information regarding the FAA contact with the two aircraft.

The Cheyenne levelled out at 7,600', and contacted Denver Departures. (I'm not sure if this was an instrument launch or not, for such a short flight).

The Cessna 172 called the same controller at 7,500', and requested higher to 8,500' (the Denver Class Bravo floor here is 8,000', so assume this was "cleared to enter the Class Bravo).

Shortly after the controller contacted the Cheyenne, "say altitude" (7'600'). Immediately the controller issued a traffic alert that a Cessna was 1 mile on an opposite heading at the same altitude. The Cheyenne was observed entering a tight turn when the accident occured.

I've heard slight variations on this from the 3 networks, and all of them most likely have a very summarized version. My condolences to all concerned.

Bruce.
KBJC, Jeffco, CO.