Air carrier X TCASII RA from false target made turn vs climb or descent.

Attributes
ACN	270396
Time
Date	199405
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : ilm
State Reference	NC
Altitude	msl bound lower : 1600 msl bound upper : 1600
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : ilm tower : mke
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : local
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller radar : 7
ASRS Report	270396
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : published procedure
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : unspecified
Resolutory Action	flight crew : took evasive action
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Air carrier X 737 made a sharp left bank (turning base early) to avoid a TCASII 'ghost target.' there were no aircraft within 10 mi of the boeing. If there had been traffic abeam the 737, there could have been a serious problem by the abrupt maneuver. Pilot queried me as to traffic in the area, and I told him there was no one within 10 mi.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR X TCASII RA FROM FALSE TARGET MADE TURN VS CLB OR DSCNT.

Narrative: ACR X 737 MADE A SHARP L BANK (TURNING BASE EARLY) TO AVOID A TCASII 'GHOST TARGET.' THERE WERE NO ACFT WITHIN 10 MI OF THE BOEING. IF THERE HAD BEEN TFC ABEAM THE 737, THERE COULD HAVE BEEN A SERIOUS PROB BY THE ABRUPT MANEUVER. PLT QUERIED ME AS TO TFC IN THE AREA, AND I TOLD HIM THERE WAS NO ONE WITHIN 10 MI.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.