Light aircraft lands on top of another in TX

[bbf7b2]

This happened a couple years back, with a high wing under a low wing on final. They flew about a mile final together, one above the other until they made contact just above the runway. Unfortunately there were multiple fatalities, which is why it is always important to maneuver to check your blind spots.

 

[squeeze]

While I've never flown in Whiting (for the record, I've heard it's TERRIBLE especially with split field ops/WAY more planes there etc), I can tell you that ATC (being students here as well) sometimes just plain SUCK. I've gotten countless relatively small errors (turn RIGHT to a heading 20 degrees off my left when they DID NOT intend for me to do a 360, fvcking up clearances, clearing me for something, then yelling at me because they "didn't clear me" for that), but I've also had, once or twice, SERIOUS errors on their part. On an RI hop one day, I was putting the bag on after the gear came up and saw a C-12 flying off our nose. He was JUST cleared to turn left on climbout from the right (parallel) runway. IP maneuvered to avoid the collision and informed tower that they cleared a freaking plane in front of us.

Whiting may suck, but Corpus isn't exactly "safe" to the point where we don't need a useful NACWS. But again...this is just my silly ENS opinion and the guys with the birds and stars on their collars are the ones that make things happen...

Welcome to aviation kid. It's a dangerous business that requires a lot of attention and SA from the pilot.

Tactical jets don't have NACWS and none that I'm aware of have TCAS, and all operate at airspeeds significantly faster than a T-34C. NACWS isn't designed to be an alternative for a disciplined outside scan, or paying attention to radio comms, nor should it ever be.

If you can't learn the basics of 'see and avoid' VFR flying in the T-34, do you think you'll ever be able to learn it concentrate on it when you get to a systems-intensive fleet aircraft?

Maybe you've heard the saying "everyone out there is trying to kill you," and maybe you haven't. Learn it, live it.

 

[Gatordev]

Welcome to aviation kid. It's a dangerous business that requires a lot of attention and SA from the pilot.

Tactical jets don't have NACWS and none that I'm aware of have TCAS, and all operate at airspeeds significantly faster than a T-34C. NACWS isn't designed to be an alternative for a disciplined outside scan, or paying attention to radio comms, nor should it ever be.

If you can't learn the basics of 'see and avoid' VFR flying in the T-34, do you think you'll ever be able to learn it concentrate on it when you get to a systems-intensive fleet aircraft?

Maybe you've heard the saying "everyone out there is trying to kill you," and maybe you haven't. Learn it, live it.

I understand your points, but I'd argue that the NACWS isn't for the students, it's for the IPs. Technically we're single-piloted, but with junior up front, it's significantly less than that. In this age of ORM, it makes no sense to me NOT to put the software upgrade in the aircraft.

But I'm sure many would argue there's no reason not to put a HUD in the T-45, and as we all know, no bucks, no Buck Rogers.

 

[plc67]

While low wing on top of high wing is the classic scenario there have been accidents and near accidents involving airliners, as well as the paper wingers. Back in the 90's a USAIR 737 landed on a Metroliner that had been put in position and hold on one of the 24s at LAX. It was a VMC night, the Metroliner wasn't visible in the TDZ lighting, the 737 got handed off from SoCal approach after tower put the Metro in position so they didn't hear the position and hold command and the final link was the tower controller forgot about the Metro so the 737 landed on top of the much smaller aircraft killing everyone in the Metroliner and several on the USAIR flight, including the Captain. The First Officer survived and gave a first hand, rather than inferential, flight deck account. Things happen fast and furious at rush hour at the major hubs so it's easy to see how this can happen. I've witnessed a couple of similar scenarios with an Eastern Captain saving the day at DCA after breaking out of a 200 foot and 1/2 mile approach on a snowy day and finding another airliner in position on the runway; and a pilot/controller screw up in SAN where luck was the major savior. You would be wise to keep ATC in your mental scan and not treat them as incapable of error. A good idea in the states and an absolute necessity in other parts of the world.
To be fair I've got to say ATC has helped me innumerable times and they are right far more times than they are wrong which tends to lull one into complacency. Throw automation into the mix and you can fast become a passenger in your own cockpit.