Is this really a serious incident ?

cowboyBuilder

http://avherald.com/h?article=49c1f871&opt=0

Transponder Data suggest, that the aircraft came as close as 100 feet vertical and 1.53nm horizontally at 15:47:23Z.

100 feet vertical is scary, but 1.53 nautical miles ?? surely that's outside the danger zone ?

or does nm mean something else ?

Tenger

In real terms you could say that this was not serious in that 1.5 nautical miles is a lot of distance between them. (1 nautical mile is a little over 6000 ft)

However with 2 aircraft travelling at speed that distance can disappear very quickly, (in a matter of seconds in fact) so from a regulatory point of view it IS a very serious incident.
The question has to be asked about how the 100 ft of vertical separation was allowed to happen. (in this incident the A320 was climbing to FL310)

The distance in both vertical and horizontal planes is there for just this reason. Any breaking of the seperation limits has to be investigated for regulation purposes, this incident went well beyond just breaching the 5nm/1000ft limits.

As a randomer I would guess a short levelling off at FL280 or similar for the A320 would have been appropriate, off course this may not have been possible for many other factors.

Growler!!!

The separation required on the airways is 5nm and 1000ft. Anything less than this is considered an airprox.

billie1b

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

http://avherald.com/h?article=49c1f871&opt=0



100 feet vertical is scary, but 1.53 nautical miles ?? surely that's outside the danger zone ?

or does nm mean something else ?

An a320 at cruising speed could close that 1.53 nautical miles in about 12 seconds (if my calculations are correct). Thats with an average cruising speed if 465nm

0lddog

Two A320s flying towards each other at that speed will (hopefully) pass each other in about 6 seconds

In 2006 an Embraer Bizjet and a 737 encountered each other @37,000ft :eek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSxzji4jD6w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coNuMvEKYNw

Growler!!!

Growler!!! wrote: »

The separation required on the airways is 5nm and 1000ft. Anything less than this is considered an airprox.

Depends on the airspace it could be 3nms.

These were not head on they were converging and crossing tracks it was likely that the 1.5nms was the lowest they would have ever been, still an airprox but one that would likely be put down as "low to no chance of collision".

martinsvi

ah how do you like this one - http://avherald.com/h?article=49d40c1c&opt=0
400fr vertical and 0.4 NM horizontal..

don't mean to throw stones without knowing all the facts, but these incidents seem to be awfully frequent in Spain.. I wonder how frequent is too frequent for the Spanish authorities to have a good hard look at themselves and do something about it?