09 March 2012, 05:24
TCLouisAirliner Nearby
What is the official distances to determine a near miss?
I saw a SW 737 (what else) and a MD 80 or DC 9 or some such cross paths over BNA closer than I have ever seen.
Left and right seat guys in each aircraft should have been able to see the whites of the other guys eyes if they saw what was happening or thought about the vectors of the other guy when they crossed paths.
Yes there was vertical separation.
These guys were under the clouds so that means a few thousand up, crossed at 45 degree angle.
Hopefully they had already said "traffic in sight" and as a plus we'll give the passengers something to remember about flying with our airline
With reduced vertical separation from FL290 (29,000ft)to FL 390, it's now only 1000 ft. At high altitude and in clear skies, you look closer than you are. It's not uncommon to pass in opposite directions within 1 or 2 feet of lateral separation because of the high quality of our current navigation equipment.
10 March 2012, 05:15
Toomany ToolsThere's one on the parade ground at Lackland AFB, San Antonio TX.
10 April 2012, 19:17
Jim Kobequote:
Originally posted by TCLouis:
What is the official distances to determine a near miss?
I saw a SW 737 (what else) and a MD 80 or DC 9 or some such cross paths over BNA closer than I have ever seen.
Left and right seat guys in each aircraft should have been able to see the whites of the other guys eyes if they saw what was happening or thought about the vectors of the other guy when they crossed paths.
Yes there was vertical separation.
These guys were under the clouds so that means a few thousand up, crossed at 45 degree angle.
Hopefully they had already said "traffic in sight" and as a plus we'll give the passengers something to remember about flying with our airline
I for one would not want to witness a "near miss" as you call it. Think about it, a near miss is a hit! Correctly a "near hit" is a miss, as in "...I nearly hit the guy.."
This comes after 30+ years in the atc business.
12 April 2012, 06:49
TCLouisI say near miss because nothing fell out of the air and in the end that is what counts.
They were low as there were clouds pretty low.
It was close enough that the person I was with who has only flown once in her life turned to me with eyes wide open and said, "Did you see that, yes you did?"
They crossed paths at a 45 and I do not know the vertical separation, but not o whole lot. Luckily it was ENOUGH!
wonder what the guy watching them on approach thought looking at the readouts
13 April 2012, 18:00
Jim KobeI don't doubt what you experienced but they did "MISS" and nearly "HIT". someone coined that phrase a long time ago but it ain't right.
To answer your original question, minimum is 3 miles or 1000 ft within 40 miles of the radar antennae or 5 mileas and 1000 elsewhere.
DId you ever consider the other guy was using visual separation? If he told the controller he "had you insight" that was legal and left the burden of "nearly hitting" you on himself.