Agrajag,
That is one of the three descent clearances that have a very specific meaning, if you had been up with the very brief US differences to ICAO.
How do we know those differences even exist, short of carrying the relevant AIP for every country we visit? And why did we get this terminology on the West Coast, but not the East?
Quote:
Why do they vector us onto parallel approaches with slower aircraft, then scream blue murder when we go around because of a TCAS RA which we are required to follow? And when our company contacts them to explain how they're setting us up for this situation, why do they keep doing it?
Most interesting??
I have operated "heavies" for three different airlines in US airspace, all three has an SOP that said you deselect RA mode in TCASA II, in terminal areas, because you will likely get successive RAs., particularly with US or European traffic levels.
I am not surprised SoCal or NorCal TRACON were a trifle pissed, if it was the West Coast.
It was also the equipment manufacturer's recommendation, Boeing's recommendations, and there is a piece in the AIM on the subject.
So, you were the only soldier in the battalion in step. I would suggest it is your airline's SOPs that should be questioned.
We used to do exactly that, once upon a time. And then the TCAS algorithms were tweaked to reduce the number of false alarms, so the policy was rescinded. Accordingly, if we get an RA we have to act on it; no exceptions. That was explained to local ATC, who continued not to get it. So, every so often, a controller would try to be a bit cute, point a 744 on base towards a turboprop on final for the parallel, and then get narky when our equipment told us the closure rate was unacceptable.
It's not good enough to say, "Oh, that often happens here, so just switch it off." The aircraft triggering the alert could be other than the one you already knew about, or the latter might have strayed into your path. Deselecting RA is akin to Zaphod's peril-sensitive glasses, which went instantly black to filter out anything that might scare him. [/HHGTTG]
To address briefly another point you made, it's not just Australians who have a problem over there. It's Asians, Brits, Europeans... in short, anyone who isn't going to each port on a regular basis. The list of local interpretations within the same country, and the short-tempered treatment of anyone who doesn't know them, is long and legendary.
Anyway, this is straying from the original topic, which was Dick's belief that VFR lighties on ATC frequencies present a deadly threat to the heavies, and thus we should copy what the Americans do. I still maintain that they don't, and we shouldn't.