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MD83 flight crew reports responding to a TCAS RA during climb to 13;000 ft caused by military aircraft; in loose formation; below 13;500 ft.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1176169 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201405 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | MD-83 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Military |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict Airborne Conflict |
Narrative:
We were on a vector and a climb to 13;000. ATC called traffic ahead and I could see on the TCAS that if I continued to climb to 13;000 there could be a conflict. About 12;500; I decreased our climb rate trying to avoid a conflict with traffic that we could not see visually. I did finally see the aircraft which passed off our right side about the same altitude. This was somewhere between 12;500 and 13;000 ft. I don't know the lateral separation. We received a TCAS RA telling us to descend which I followed. It was a rather aggressive RA calling for about 1;800 ft per minute descent. During this maneuver; we noticed another target on our left. I'm not sure if the RA was for the first or second airplane. The planes appeared to be in a loose formation. I think they were military but not sure. The first plane that I saw was small. Neither the captain nor myself saw the 2nd one because my attention was directed inside the plane at the vsi directing the RA. I don't know how close the 2nd plane was. We advised ATC we were responding to a RA. ATC seemed surprised. After the RA was complete; I started the climb once again to 13;000. We then switched frequencies and continued the flight.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: MD83 flight crew reports responding to a TCAS RA during climb to 13;000 FT caused by military aircraft; in loose formation; below 13;500 FT.
Narrative: We were on a vector and a climb to 13;000. ATC called traffic ahead and I could see on the TCAS that if I continued to climb to 13;000 there could be a conflict. About 12;500; I decreased our climb rate trying to avoid a conflict with traffic that we could not see visually. I did finally see the aircraft which passed off our right side about the same altitude. This was somewhere between 12;500 and 13;000 FT. I don't know the lateral separation. We received a TCAS RA telling us to descend which I followed. It was a rather aggressive RA calling for about 1;800 FT per minute descent. During this maneuver; we noticed another target on our left. I'm not sure if the RA was for the first or second airplane. The planes appeared to be in a loose formation. I think they were military but not sure. The first plane that I saw was small. Neither the Captain nor myself saw the 2nd one because my attention was directed inside the plane at the VSI directing the RA. I don't know how close the 2nd plane was. We advised ATC we were responding to a RA. ATC seemed surprised. After the RA was complete; I started the climb once again to 13;000. We then switched frequencies and continued the flight.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.