Civil Ops over Iraq...A Worry
Flying from KWI this morning in a 777, we were cleared at the Iraqi border to enter Iraqi airspace, to climb from FL180 to 380 and to fly direct to Basra. I was a little upset therefore, to see a TCAS return on a reciprocal track, a target descending toward us. We stopped the climb, turned 30degrees off track and asked the American controller what he was playing at. He said he knew of no other traffic in the area. So I must have been imagining the C130 that flew past 700ft above and descending, lateral displacement about half a mile...
Once we told him that we had a visual on the traffic, he said that he had handed that aircraft over to Kuwait control at FL230. In that case, what was it doing descending through 210 whilst still in Iraqi airspace?
Okay, a bit of drama for us on the flight deck, but no major harm done. It triggered a TCAS TA and caused us to fly clear, and that was pretty much it on this occasion.
But this is not the first time this has happened...I know of at least one other time when a TCAS RA was triggered in similar circumstances.
The point is that military and civil traffic do not mix very well in this environment. Talk about an error chain...all you need is a bit of IMC, the military traffic to switch off its transponder (as they do-all the time, switching it on and off) and thereby negate the warning provided by TCAS...well, I shudder to think.
I'm concerned.I've filed the report, but it worries me enough to post this message to make others aware, if they're not already, of the lack of coordination in this airspace.