Which is EXACTLY what happened at BRS recently. Short final in a 737 and suddenly a TCAS RA - "Climb, Climb Now". So its 44k of thrust time and an interesting ride for the pax as nearly a ton of Avtur gets converted into heat and forward motion... All because blogs in his PA28 had his transponder on whilst orbiting on base.
For gawds sake squawk mode C 7000 if you have it at all times. We have very good TCAS in many aircraft these days. I can often look down or up 7000ft from my level to see transponding aircraft out to 80+ miles ahead or behind...
WWW