Avoiding action

[soay]

Originally Posted by Whirlybird

Let's face it, see and avoid is a nice idea and sometimes works, but most of the time it's incredibly hard to see other aircraft.

So why is there so much resistance to making transponder use compulsory - at least in all aircraft with an engine and that wouldn't fall apart if you hit them? That would encourage those who could afford it to fit TCAS, which would also reduce the risk to those who couldn't, by reducing the number of aircraft in the sky relying on eyeballs alone.

Making use compulsory would put a stop to those who have transponders but don't use mode C, so they can't get caught level busting - which is a very dubious justification, given the possible consequences.