Originally Posted by
172_driver
I used to enjoy the free use of airspace in the US, but I always told myself and others; It's not for anyone who under performs.
That's an indirect way of saying that the system is flawed and is relying too much on humans to stop it from failing.
Originally Posted by
EDLB
So a midair in the most tightly restricted and controlled airspace in the world. How many official agents were watching this in real time without taking action?
The problem is an over reliance on visual separation in congested and complicated airspace. An aircraft claims it has the traffic in sight, therefore taking responsibility for separation, and ATC moves on to their next task. The fact that this is allowed with commercial aviation over DC (or any major US city) when there's potentially hundreds of lives at stake in the air, never mind the lives on the ground, is staggering.