Originally Posted by
WideScreen
Not sure how an approach like this one can be flown with an ILS, even a GPS based approach I have my doubts to be able to fly that precise, etc.
I was talking about visual separation; I should have been clearer.
I think, the better option would be to not rely on "bright lights" but suitably illuminated big surfaces, IE an airplane should illuminate its own surfaces. For this particular case, that might not have made a big difference, given the near head-on approach for a long time.
This accident was certainly "setup" in the procedures defined in this area, heavily relying on Humans not making (altitude (settings)) mistakes and Humans detection opportunities, for which we all know, the human is not really that well-designed for from scratch.
For this case, the helicopter corridor was designed to be below the approach path, though when the human makes even a small mistake and/or the weather makes the approach path a bit lower, things can go haywire quite easily.
Might have helped the CRJ see the helicopter (except a military helicopter probably won't be illuminated anyway). But if the helicopter crew has CRJ landing lights pointing at them, are they going to see anything? It seems like another poor-quality band-aid on top of the fundamental problem of trusting see-and-avoid and voice comms.
RVSM is 1000ft at higher altitudes; even if things had gone 100% to plan, this would have only provided, what, <300ft vertical separation? Is wake turbulence a threat to helicopters?