Care when using TCAS
I was reading my copy of the April CHIRP this morning and one particular sentence caught my eye in 'Clearance Confusion' on page 7: "We were aware on TCAS of an aircraft at about 10 miles on finals and we watched the preceeding landing traffic vacate the runway". I wonder whether the 'knowledge' that there was a 10 mile gap contributed to the mistake being made, by subconsciously leading the pilots to believe that this was obviously when they were going to get away.
My point is that think very carefully about using TCAS for anything other than it's intended purpose, as it can sometimes give a false sence of security. For example there are times when non-squawking aircraft do fly within UK controlled airspace. It's rare but it does happen and TCAS offers no information on such traffic, as a couple of Britannia pilots know all to well.