Narrative:

On radar vectors for arrival into sju, heading 190 degrees, level at 3000 ft, VMC conditions. All of a sudden, navigation display showed a red diamond at our 10 O'clock position, followed by ATC advising traffic at our 10 O'clock position, followed by an RA 'traffic descend,' followed by ATC advising us to climb. By the time ATC advised us to climb, we had just started our descent, autoplt disconnect, flight directors off, just as per the 'book.' looking up, I could see the pilots in the king air looking down at us, missing us by a couple of hundred ft. I am including a typed note I feel could help in future RA's like this one. I hope you'll consider my suggestions. After having experienced a real life RA, I wanted to relay some suggestions. In our particular situation, the RA just 'popped-up' and we didn't have much time to react. It was a bright sunny day with clouds around, a day where one had to wear sunglasses. The avoid maneuver is both a try to visually acquire and see one's instruments and fly away based on the TCASII advisory. I felt there was too much lag time to have the eyes adjust for the changing condition of a brightly lit background with sunglasses on and a darkened instrument panel. In our situation, we literally had 1 to maximum of 2 seconds of time to react. From this experience, I would like to see the TCASII advisory be expanded to have the aural warning command a descent/climb rate appropriate to the situation. I feel this would have been very helpful in both aurally determining just how far the traffic is while visually trying to acquire, plus emphasizing the severity of the situation at that moment. Supplemental information from acn 620443: almost simultaneously, ATC issued a climb clearance which I ignored. Our flight operations manual (fom) confirmed that TCASII commands take precedence over ATC instructions. I believe that a climb would have resulted in a collision.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN A320 HAS A TCASII RA TO AVOID AN NMAC WITH A KING AIR IN SJU CLASS E AIRSPACE.

Narrative: ON RADAR VECTORS FOR ARR INTO SJU, HDG 190 DEGS, LEVEL AT 3000 FT, VMC CONDITIONS. ALL OF A SUDDEN, NAV DISPLAY SHOWED A RED DIAMOND AT OUR 10 O'CLOCK POS, FOLLOWED BY ATC ADVISING TFC AT OUR 10 O'CLOCK POS, FOLLOWED BY AN RA 'TFC DSND,' FOLLOWED BY ATC ADVISING US TO CLB. BY THE TIME ATC ADVISED US TO CLB, WE HAD JUST STARTED OUR DSCNT, AUTOPLT DISCONNECT, FLT DIRECTORS OFF, JUST AS PER THE 'BOOK.' LOOKING UP, I COULD SEE THE PLTS IN THE KING AIR LOOKING DOWN AT US, MISSING US BY A COUPLE OF HUNDRED FT. I AM INCLUDING A TYPED NOTE I FEEL COULD HELP IN FUTURE RA'S LIKE THIS ONE. I HOPE YOU'LL CONSIDER MY SUGGESTIONS. AFTER HAVING EXPERIENCED A REAL LIFE RA, I WANTED TO RELAY SOME SUGGESTIONS. IN OUR PARTICULAR SIT, THE RA JUST 'POPPED-UP' AND WE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TIME TO REACT. IT WAS A BRIGHT SUNNY DAY WITH CLOUDS AROUND, A DAY WHERE ONE HAD TO WEAR SUNGLASSES. THE AVOID MANEUVER IS BOTH A TRY TO VISUALLY ACQUIRE AND SEE ONE'S INSTS AND FLY AWAY BASED ON THE TCASII ADVISORY. I FELT THERE WAS TOO MUCH LAG TIME TO HAVE THE EYES ADJUST FOR THE CHANGING CONDITION OF A BRIGHTLY LIT BACKGROUND WITH SUNGLASSES ON AND A DARKENED INST PANEL. IN OUR SIT, WE LITERALLY HAD 1 TO MAX OF 2 SECONDS OF TIME TO REACT. FROM THIS EXPERIENCE, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE TCASII ADVISORY BE EXPANDED TO HAVE THE AURAL WARNING COMMAND A DSCNT/CLB RATE APPROPRIATE TO THE SIT. I FEEL THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY HELPFUL IN BOTH AURALLY DETERMINING JUST HOW FAR THE TFC IS WHILE VISUALLY TRYING TO ACQUIRE, PLUS EMPHASIZING THE SEVERITY OF THE SIT AT THAT MOMENT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 620443: ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY, ATC ISSUED A CLB CLRNC WHICH I IGNORED. OUR FLT OPS MANUAL (FOM) CONFIRMED THAT TCASII COMMANDS TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER ATC INSTRUCTIONS. I BELIEVE THAT A CLB WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN A COLLISION.

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.