"757 crew responded incorrectly to ATC "...because ATC never asked that crew to descend. It was TCAS that made them to descend.
Main question here is how this tragedy could have been avoided. We all know one answer: If both parties responded correctly to TCAS and incorrectly to ATC.
Oh nonsense.
To follow a TCAS RA in the absence of any ATC instruction at all is nothing like an incorrect response to an ATC instruction. Hell, to follow a TCAS RA which is exactly the opposite of an ATC instruction is exactly the right thing to do! We've all agreed (us controllers and you pilots) that a TCAS RA supersedes an ATC instruction. Therefore, the 75 crew did what we all depended upon them to do, and the TU crew did not. Think of it this way, a TCAS RA is the ultimate ATC instruction. It trumps all others. For crying out loud, it
erases the ATC instruction. How can you respond incorrectly to an ATC instruction that has been
erased? We ATCers support that idea. To echo BEagle, PLEASE tell me that you don't fly or control transport aircraft...
Where the hell is Jerricho when you need him?
And Nubboy...
The ATC'er saw a conflict and kept trying to resolve it, long after he should have shut up.
Actually, until we all have some technology in place that tells us you guys are getting an RA, we're not going to be shutting up. That's because we have no way of knowing whether or not you're getting the RA up there or not, and we're accustomed to trying to resolve the situation as long as there is an opportunity to do so. So I beg you, ignore me. Tune me out. Follow the RA. But know I'll keep chattering...
-Dave