How to manufacture a Mid-Air.
This business spends millions of dollars, and man-hours, keeping aircraft from bumping into one another and then, thanks to RVSM and Nav equipment that works in inches - we get this. If they’d ‘bumped’, and they don’t come closer than this, how would it be explained to the man in the street who has a rough idea of the area of the North Atlantic?
2 OCT 2000.
UK AIRPROX/AAIB SERIOUS INCIDENT. A340 and A330 in Oceanic airspace at RVSM levels at N5828 W1646 at FL370.
Severe turbulence encounter. The A330 pilot reported that, as his aircraft was overtaking the A340, which was 1000ft below and slightly left, he observed the wings of the A340 starting to bounce as it hit turbulence. A330 then hit turbulence and received a TCAS RA ‘climb’ as altimeter showed 36,800ft. The A340 was then seen to climb rapidly and pass within 200 metres of the A330 to a level 1100ft above it. The A330 pilot then turned right to allow the A340 to return to its original flight level of FL360.
[This message has been edited by forget (edited 28 November 2000).]