Airliner Passengers Injured After TCAS Alert

[W5]

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/passengers-taken-to-hospital-after-ra-results-in-an-abrupt-maneuver

 

At 31,000 feet, a United flight crew responded to a collision warning.

CNN reported yesterday (Sept. 24) that the FAA was investigating an incident involving passenger injuries resulting from a midair collision warning. UAL Flight 2428 from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport responded to a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) resolution advisory (RA) and “slowed its descent to account for another aircraft at a lower altitude,” according to the FAA.

The incident occurred at 31,000 feet and about 70 miles north of San Francisco, CNN said, citing data from FlightRadar24. The aviation traffic reporting website also noted a Southwest Airlines flight about 3,000 feet below UAL 2428, and a SkyWest flight 1,000 feet below the United flight.

In a statement, the FAA said there was no loss of safe separation. According to the CNN report, the seatbelt sign was on, but one of the United passengers was not in their seat. Both injured passengers were taken to the hospital after landing, with one reportedly suffering serious injuries.

The CNN story includes a reference to a LiveATC recording in which one of the United pilots told air traffic control, “Someone might have broken an ankle and there’s passengers that got hurt when we had an RA.”

[Kip Powick]

Maybe an abrupt decrease in rate of descent and.....of course..that seatbelt light "on" is a real annoyance, (( as it should only be on for T/O and Landing )).

[J.O.]

As always, the devil is in the details. As there was crossing traffic below, one would assume the UAL flight was expected to level off shortly. Which begs the question, why is your descent rate so high as to generate an RA that requires an immediate (and rather aggressive) level off? But if there was no level off instruction, that’s another matter entirely. 

[IFG]

Every time there's one of these incidents, I'm wondering what circumstances demanded maneuvers sufficiently aggressive to cause serious injury. It's been a few years now, but my recollection is of relatively mild handling guidelines.  Haven't dug up any references, but I recall about 1500 fpm (+or-), <.25g or so, aiming for a change in trajectory of 500 ft in 20 seconds. Doesn't seem like upset apple-carts 

What are the current training modules like? (Never had the pleasure, ground school & briefing stuff only - 727 sim didn't have TCAS )

Cheers, IFG - 

 

[Seeker]

8 hours ago, IFG said:

Every time there's one of these incidents, I'm wondering what circumstances demanded maneuvers sufficiently aggressive to cause serious injury. It's been a few years now, but my recollection is of relatively mild handling guidelines.  Haven't dug up any references, but I recall about 1500 fpm (+or-), <.25g or so, aiming for a change in trajectory of 500 ft in 20 seconds. Doesn't seem like upset apple-carts 

What are the current training modules like? (Never had the pleasure, ground school & briefing stuff only - 727 sim didn't have TCAS )

Cheers, IFG - 

 

Everybody knows, and we practise it, that the recovery should be a low "G" manoeuver.  The warning is almost always early enough that a gentle recovery will do it.  The problem is that in real life vs the simulator the startle factor comes into it.  I would bet 100% of these are due to the pilot being startled, clicking off the AP and jerking the controls in a moment of stress when it really isn't needed.