Dick Smith:
I am a little confused at the exact point you are trying to make with your post.
Is it a case of "here I can prove we have lots of near-misses and TCAS saving the day before so on that basis we can now officially rely on unalerted see and avoid?". Is that really a case for removing the radio?
There is no mention of course of how many times pilots (on the right frequency) actually sorted out a satisfactory separation arrangement - or just simply were aware of other traffic in the circuit. Is that because it happens every day?
'unemotive examples'?? (who wrote the bylines like BOEING 747 POTENTIAL MID-AIR COLLISION – 400 LIVES! , NEAR MISS, UNALERTED SEE AND AVOID, “FILLED THE SCREEN” - the ATSB?!)
You say the NAS follows international practice - is this moving away from a strictly US system - the one that John Anderson says we will now have?