Southwest Airlines Pilot Takes Evasive Action to Avoid Collision, 2 Injured

[General Lee]

General,

Where did you guys go to eat in SFO? What about Manhattan? I want to feel great too!!

Is going to Europe really as neat as you make it out to be? I can't wait until the summer so you can tell us every day how great the trip is!

Thanks!

SFO has some really great sushi, always fresh. And, the Wharf has great clam chowder. Manhattan is great for everyone, since everyone seems to find their "own" little place that they go back to again and again. I like a certain pizza joint near Times Square.

And, Europe flying is not for everyone. A lot of people can't sleep on the flights in the seat (in 1st Class), or sleep when they get over there. Luckily, I can, on the plane and on the layover. Europe flying is best described as "a great buffet on the way to happy hour". The food on the flight is usually pretty tasty, and we are given choices before leaving the gate, and we give our preferences and when we would like to eat. I always throw in a sundae too, since there seems to leftovers. I also try to workout for about an hour after I get up from my 2-3 hour nap after arriving, so I can totally look ripped in my shirt that is two sizes too small. I do get a lot of looks from the locals, and most of them are from girls.

Thanks for asking, your excitement seems palpable. I dig that! Right arm dude! Farm Out!


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[vetrider]

I read somewhere awhile back that some in ATC had a dark humor nick name for tcas, calling it 'tcrash.' I've seen people literally drop all mental faculties, go bannanas and get tunnel vision looking outside just because some dumb little box said 'traffic traffic.'

Tcas sounds like a great thing, and go along with it because it's part of what we do, but I sure don't like it.

 

[waveflyer]

You don't like TCAS? .... seriously? ... That sounds pretty dumb... Does the autopilot and FMS piss you off too? How about Radar? GPWS? Sounds like you have a problem with some pilots' response to TCAS, as if that's the TCAS's fault...

Everyone lived. I completely agree with the previous poster. Flight attendants can deal with bruises and broken bones, easier than any of us could deal with a major accident.

and i also agree, the flight attendant's should have been seated that low- especially flying around the mountains- just for that reason-

 

[filejw]

If they were under 10,000 why weren't the FAs seated?

Your kidding right....Second guessing this guy is so immature especially in So Cal airspace.....

 

[Mr Wu]

Descending into SBN one night we got an RA that told us to descend, so we did. Then it told us to descend faster and we saw the target airplane below us. Had to make a pretty radical maneuver to avoid it. Turns out that the other airplane had a plain jane Mode C xpndr so ours gave us a faster descent to avoid it. Maybe this is what happened to this SWA guy?

 

[vetrider]

You don't like TCAS? .... seriously? ... That sounds pretty dumb... Does the autopilot and FMS piss you off too? How about Radar? GPWS? Sounds like you have a problem with some pilots' response to TCAS, as if that's the TCAS's fault...

Seriously, I don't like TCAS. I do like all that other stuff though. Not to worry, like I said, I'm going with the program, but I personally don't feel any safer because of TCAS.

http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/Safety_Issues/RiskManagement/skyguided-3.html

 

[MILPILOT17]

Seriously, I don't like TCAS. I do like all that other stuff though. Not to worry, like I said, I'm going with the program, but I personally don't feel any safer because of TCAS.

http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/Safety_Issues/RiskManagement/skyguided-3.html

WOW!! I can't even respond to that. WOW!

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

What is the dividing line between the pilot was too aggressive in manuevering, and the pilot was not aggressive enough and got too close to the conflicting traffic?

cliff
NBO

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Seriously, I don't like TCAS. I do like all that other stuff though. Not to worry, like I said, I'm going with the program, but I personally don't feel any safer because of TCAS.

http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/Safety_Issues/RiskManagement/skyguided-3.html

Worth quoting:

If your TCAS issues a RA, Air Traffic Control has already failed. At this point, the TCAS system is infinitely more valuable than ATC’s instructions. Most enroute radars have update rates between 6 and 10 seconds – the information your TCAS is providing is much more timely and, by design, training, and regulation, takes precedence over ATC commands.

 

[737tanker]

If they were under 10,000 why weren't the FAs seated?

Because the procedure is to give 1 ring of the F/A Call Button when at 10,000 ft. This tells the F/As that sterile cockpit rules are in effect and for them to secure the cabin for arrival. So until the cabin is cleaned up the F/As will not be seated. Which means they won't be seated to well below 10,000 ft.

 

[SpauldingSmails]

No mid-air that's what counts, especially if the pilot never saw the traffic. I've had RAs where the other aircraft was in sight, and we'd have to aggressively maneuver to even come close to tagging them.

I've also had ones pop up at the very last second and would be difficult to avoid otherwise. The last one I remember was a VFR Cessna departing from a small airport below the approach paths and he penetrated the floor of the class B. Certainly gets your attention.

 

[ableone]

Because the procedure is to give 1 ring of the F/A Call Button when at 10,000 ft. This tells the F/As that sterile cockpit rules are in effect and for them to secure the cabin for arrival. So until the cabin is cleaned up the F/As will not be seated. Which means they won't be seated to well below 10,000 ft.

I was under the impression they were departing, not arriving, when I asked the question. My bad.

 

[waveflyer]

you're right, and no one did anything wrong here-
It's still a good idea to clean up a bit early in many airports- for different reasons-
mountains + ga traffic is a good reason to sit them early in BUR
mountains + slam dunk in ONT
mountains and turbulence in Denver
I'm not into making a new "rule" for every situation- just something to think about-
we sit FAs early for turbulence- dinging them a bit early into places that have lots of GA traffic is probably a good idea