While the investigation begins in the cause of the accident in the air between a jet of regional passenger of American Airlines and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, questions were raised on the role played by the traffic alert and the collision avoidance system (TCAS).
The collision, which occurred while the jet approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, DC, sent the two planes to the Potomac river. Everyone aboard the two planes, which included 60 passengers and four crew members on the plane, and three soldiers on the helicopter, were killed.
However, TCAS technology is supposed to be an effective tool to help prevent such accidents. Here is what we know about the system and what he could have done in this situation.
How does TCAS work?
Problems with outdoor collisions led the US Federal Association Association (FAA) to adapt the TCAS in 1981. The TCAs are mandated worldwide on all major planes and many more commercial flights Small.
Images of a video surveillance camera have attracted the moment of impact as a passenger avion and an American army helicopter collided. The audio of air traffic control, on the other hand, captures some of the immediate consequences of the collision.
It is an airborne electronic system that operates independently of the air traffic control system (ATC) on the ground, and offers collision avoidance protection for a wide spectrum of aircraft types, according to a guide to the FAA.
It is really considered a last resort, but it is incorporated with other airplane navigation screens and uses radio signals to study nearby planes. He will then issue visual cockpit screens and audio warnings that another plane can be dangerously close.
“This simply shows that traffic is at our location, there is a risk of potential collision,” said Shem Malmquist, pilot and visiting instructor in general aviation and transport aircraft at Florida Institute of Technology.
And in certain situations, he will provide advice to pilots on how to avoid a collision, he said.
For example, if TCAS believes that the pilot must pay attention to other air traffic in the region, he can say “traffic traffic”, said Malmquist.
But this could also give a “resolution council”, which could include the instructions “climb”, “go down” or increase or decrease or decrease vertical speed, explained Malmquist.
“It will actually tell you what you should do,” he said. He added that current technology provides only vertical corrective action paths, which means that it will not guide an airplane to turn.
Do TCAs still send alerts?
Although TCAs display warnings, audio controls are automatically inhibited under a certain altitude, said Malmquist.
He said many warnings on planes are inhibited during some phases of a flight to avoid worst problems.
Like a fire warning, for example, during the initial takeoff will be inhibited “so that the pilot does not try to do something when he is safer to get into flight,” he said.
The same goes for major maneuvers when you are at low altitude, near the ground.
“First of all, you cannot go down anyway because the ground is there, and you did not realize yourself quickly because there is the potential of the plane which does not have the maneuverability To do so, “said Malmquist.
What role would the TCA have played in the DC incident?
Due to the low altitude of the two planes when they collided, the TCA would probably not have provided an audio warning at that time, said Malmquist.
In addition, the pilot would probably not have examined the display of warnings at that time, he said. Instead, their goal would have been to look out the window and focus on the track.
“As opposed to someone suddenly reacting and plunging the plane into the ground or pulling the plane … and losing control of the plane. You have no room for maneuver at that time,” said -Ali said.
“I do not know that the TCA would not be useful at all, but they inhibit the warning and the alert, especially because the risk of other problems is higher than the risk of collision.”
